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SWAMI BHAGAT BRAHMA VIDYA 









TRANSCENDENT- SCIENCE 

or 

The Science of Self Knowledge 




By SWAMI BRAHMA VIDYA 
Price $5.00 

PUBLISHED BY 

The Transcendent-Science Society 

Masonic Temple 
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U. S. A. 



i<A V 



>t>* 



Copyright, 1922 

by 

SWAMI BHAGAT BRAHMA VIDYA 



SPECIAL NOTICE 

The illustrations, cover design and contents of 
this Volume are protected by copyright, and must 
not be reproduced or copied without written per- 
mission from the Publishers. Disregard of this 
warning will subject the offender to the penalty 
provided by law. 




THE TRANSCENDENT PRESS 
CHICAGO 



AUG -7 1922 

©CI.A681294 



4- 



u The Book of Imperial and 
Sovereign Wisdom 

OR 

Transcendent- Science 

Including the Supreme Rites and Supernal Mysteries 
of Transcendent Theurgy, Supernal and Transcen- 
dent Necromancy, Oriental Sorcery, Celestialism, 
Also the Rituals of Transcendent Science Cere- 
monial Conjurations. 

Embracing the 

Philosopher's Vade Mecum, wherein is expounded the 
supernal mysteries of cosmic involution, from the arch- 
etypal, to the manifest; the sidereal correspondences; 
embodying within itself Hermetic dissertations on the 
( ^hrist Allegory, and the rational and praxis as concern 
the redemptive processes in Human Regeneration. 

Being 

The Approved, Verified, Sympathetic and Natural 
Grand Oriental Occult Secrets. 

The book of Nature and the hidden secrets and mys- 
teries of Life unveiled; being the 
Forbidden Knowledge of Ancient and Esoteric Savants 
By that celebrated Orientalist, Brahmin Philosopher 
Initiate of the Tibetan Brotherhood, Discoverer of 
Transcendent-Science, Transcendental Occulist, Fel- 
low of the Latent Light Culture of India, President 
and Founder of the Transcendent-Science Society, 
and Ecclesiarch of the First Church of Hindu Spirit- 
ual Science, Disciple and Initiate of Said Abd-el-liah- 
man el Aclaros of the Spiritual Mysteries. 
SWAMI BRAHMA VIDYA 

PUBLISHED r.Y 

The Transcendent-Science Society (Press) 

Masonic Temple 
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, I . S. A. 



c \ 



Announcement 

The Rarest and Never Before Published Works 

By SWAMI BRAHMAVIDYA 

These masterly series of book instructions, lesson instruction, or courses 
of instructions, containing nothing but the most practical instructions has 
been specially prepared for the benefit of the earnest and spiritually 
minded public at large. Their language is remarkably direct and plain : 
they are absolutely practical from cover to cover, telling you what to do 
and how to do, instead of dealing with the theories of things, thus lead- 
ing you into a full realization of what you should so desire to know or 
to possess. The profound Mysteries of Indian Occultism, Yoga, and the 
Oriental Occult Arts are practically a sealed book to the Western coun- 
tries. At last the Veil of Self -Knowledge has been lifted and those who 
burn and thirst for the Real and Practical Oriental Teachings of the Great 
Brotherhoods of the East, along with full and explicit instructions, that 
any one in a very short time can master, will truly find therein a mine 
of gold, and all that they have been crying for in vain. 

The Swami has exhausted the entire field of 

HINDU, ARABIAN and EGYPTIAN OCCULTISM, MAGIC, PSYCHOL- 
OGY, PSYCHIATRY, METAPHYSICS, PHILOSOPHY, ALCHEM- 
ISTRY, PERSONAL MAGNETISM, YOGA and APPLIED 
PSYCHOLOGY, 

and those who purchase any of these series of books, or specially pre- 
pared lessons, or courses, will surely have their wants satiated. The 
works are as follows : 

HINDU SPIRITUALISM— By the South Indian Brotherhood, specially 
imported by the Swami for his students. A complete course in Hindu 
Spiritualism; treating on Levitation, Materialization, Communication, 
Table-Rapping, Movement of Objects, etc., giving in modern language all 
of the ancient methods, and sold only in the United States by their Repre- 
sentative, the Swami Brahmavidya. 

Course Complete $100.0!) 

Complete Course in Yoga and Instruction to Unfold Spiritual Con- 
sciousness, also imported from the S. I. B. 

Course Complete $25.00 

TEN LESSONS IN HINDU MASTER MIND POWERS— In ten sepa- 
rate works ; containing complete lessons in Applied Psychology, Love, 
Wealth, Success, Health, Personal Power, Personal Magnetism, etc., by 

the Swami Brahmavidya. 

Course Complete $10.00 

TEN LESSONS IN GENUINE HINDU MIND READING— Giving all 

the great secrets of manifestation and prevision. 

Course Complete $10.00 

ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO 

The Transcendent -Science Society, Inc. 

Masonic Temple 
. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U. S. A. 



OTHER RARE WORKS by the AUTHOR 

Complete Course in Personal Magnetism and How to 
Win , $10.00 

Complete Lesson in Indian Clairvoyance $5.00 

Complete Lesson in Indian Mental Magic Powers $5.00 

Large and Complete Course in Occult Therapeutics 

or Healing $10.00 

Specially Prepared Instruction in Mimeographed Form : 

"Things Kept Secret from the Foundation 

of the World" 

Special Instruction on Levitation, Materialization, 
Distant Operations, Higher Magic, Adeptship, In- 
fluence at a Distance, Etc., Condensed and with a 

Chart of Centers $5.00 

Mind Power, or the Book of the Mystery Mind .... $2.00 
Private Lessons for Mediums and Psychics, Contain- 
ing the Great Secret of Crystal Materialization $.100 
East Indian Spirit Healing, or How to Heal In- 
stantly $1.00 

Hindu Black and White Magic, or the Book of 

Charms $1.00 

Hindu Mystic Powers, or the Book of Mystery. $1.00 

The Reader of Souls, or Private Lessons in Genuine 

Clairvoyance, Mind Reading and Crystal Gazing, 

as Taught by the Masters, Enabling the Student to 

Get Names Quickly $1.00 

Visualization 50c 

The Tradition of Truth .15c 

Those who are further interested may send 10 cents in coin or stamps, 
for our Mail or Private Syllabuses or Classes, or Book Lists, and other 
articles, as specially prepared Incenses for Occult and Ceremonial Magic, 
Blue or Purple Transparent Hindu Crystals, Magic-Mirrors, Parchment 
Sheets, etc.. etc. No Books, etc.. are returnable. 

ADDRESS 

The Transcendent- Science Society, Inc. 

Masonic Temple 
CHICAGO. ILLINOIS, I . S. A. 



THE COMFORTER 



He who has ever come face to face 
With his elder-brother, the soul, 
Shall no more need to go comfortless, 
For he has found him an endless grace, 
To check his tears, and to ease his dole, 
And to lift and lighten his load and bless. 



L t5 J 



He who has turned him and looked within, 
And seen himself as he yet shall be, 
Shall never more be reft of the light; 
Hope shall go with him," and he shall win 
To the certain faith and peace of the free, 
That have climbed to heaven out of the night. 

It will not always be clear, that face 

That is thine — and God's — but never again 

Will blackness utterly shroud thee, and fall 

Across the path where walk apace 

The stumbling and wayward feet of men, — 

For the light of thy soul will shine out through all. 

—Elizabeth Alden Curtis-Holmau. 

Fellow of The Brahmavidyan Brotherhood and Member of the 
TRANSCEXDEXT-SCIEXCE SOCIETY 



NOTE 

The Author of this work respectfully informs those 
who are curious in the studies of Art and Nature, espe- 
cially of Natural and Occult Philosophy, Chemistry, 
Astrology, etc., etc., that having been indefatigable in 
his researches into those sublime sciences, of which he 
has treated at large in this book, that he gives lessons 
by mail and private instructions and lectures upon any 
of the above mentioned sciences; in the course of which 
he will discover many curious and rare experiments. 
Those who become students will be initiated into the 
choicest operations of Natural Philosophy, Natural 
Magic, the Cabala, Chemistry, the Talismanic Art, Her- 
metic Philosophy, Astrology, Physiognomy, Yoga, 
Hindu Adeptship, Transcendent-Science, Oriental 
Magic, etc., etc. Likewise, they will acquire the knowl- 
edge of the Rites, Mysteries, Ceremonies, and Princi- 
ples of the ancient Philosophers, Magi, Cabalists, 
Adepts, etc. The purpose of this School (each circle 
of which will consist of no greater number than twelve 
Students at any given time) being to investigate the 
hidden treasures of Nature; to bring the mind to a 
contemplation of the Eternal Wisdom to promote the 
discovery of whatever may conduce to the perfection 
of Man; the alleviating of the miseries and calamities 
of this life, both in respect of ourselves and others; the 
study of morality and religion here, in order to secure 
to ourselves felicity hereafter; and finally the promul- 
gation of whatever may conduce to the general happi- 



TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 



ness and welfare of mankind. Those who feel them- 
selves thoroughly disposed to enter upon such a course 
of studies, as is above recited, with the same principles 
of philanthropy with whuh the Author invites the lov- 
ers of philosophy and wisdom to incorporate them- 
selves in so select, permanent, and desirable a society, 
may speak with the Author upon the subject, at any 
time between the hours of Twelve and Five o'clock, at 
the Transcendent-Science Society's Office, Room 1022, 
Masonic Temple, Chicago, Illinois. Letters (postpaid) 
upon any subject treated of in this Book will be duly 
answered, with the necessary information. 




ANNOUNCEMENT 

In studying these Lessons please remember four 
points — 



1. Not one useless or superfluous sentence is writ- 
.. Every word is full of meaning, 
condensed. Think deeply over them. 



ten. Every word is full of meaning. They are highly 



2. They are meant as a practical supplement to the 
" Spiritual Consciousness," "Bridging the Gulf," "The 
Arcanum of the Sages." Studied side by side, these 
lessons will yield a great deal of benefit. You are 
expected to think hard and long. 

3. Let none expect speedy or miraculous results. 
All spiritual training calls for infinite patience and 
deep reverence unto the Guru (Teacher). Constant 
rise and fall accompanies all progress. 

4. The Author, being a Yogi free from all mundane 
affairs, can be communicated with only in extraordi- 
nary cases, and he will help on the student in the train- 
ing in all possible ways wherever and whenever neces- 
sary. Please always enclose stamps, and be brief and 
clear in your correspondence. All letters pertaining 
to this should be addressed to "The Swami Bralnna- 
vidya, President of the Transcendent Science Society, 
Masonic Temple, Chicago, Illinois, IT. S. A." 

The Transcendent Science Society 

Masonic Temple, Chicago, 111., U. S. A. 



THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

"Bear in mind, my son," said the Hindu Brahmin 
to the neophyte, "that there is but one God, the sove- 
reign master and principal of all things, and that every 
Brahmin should worship him in secret. Learn also 
that this is a mystery which should never be revealed 
to the vulgar herd; otherwise great harm may befall 
you. ' ' 

Kind student and brother or sister, the above are 
the words of my Master, taken from the Sacred Books 
of Tradition; not unlike the words of the Christian 
Mystic who became the Christ. After attentively lis- 
tening to the words and the rabble of the true seekers ; 
of the guides to these divers' fairways which are legion, 
though some of honesty unimpeachable if poor pilots, 
others masters of their craft but slaves to greed, I 
myself have, but without mere assumption herein, suc- 
ceeded in raising the Veil. 

"What seek ye?" demands the Adept. 

Comes a chorus from poor purblind humanity: 
"TO BRIDGE THE GULF!" This is to say, that 
whatever attempt I have made herein, is with this 
only in view. 

The connection between mysticism and mesmerism 
will be seen naturally remote to the ordinary patho- 
logical student, but experiments in dual conscious- 

10 



*1 Jj 




L_ 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 11 

ness, in the possibilities of suggestion, in the trans- 
ference of thought, and in the production of a pro- 
found artificial sleep after a careful study to be only 
the outer fringe of our ancient Father's (Hindus) 
secret knoAvledge by which the sanctuary of the' 
inmost man might be unlocked, and whereby the inte- 
rior mystic might enter into the realities which tran- 
scended the superficial truths of the phenomenal 
world. I speak tentatively and hypothetically, but I 
base my statements upon investigations other than 
my own, and upon authorities in occult science who 
are greater than myself. 

It is open to anyone who has the necessary quali- 
fications of aspiration, patience and energy to learn 
by his individual experience that mystic practice is 
not hallucination, and that it is not the fraud that the 
majority of English or Americans presume. 

Then he must compare what he has learned with 
the facts of pathological history in natural and arti- 
ficial catalepsy, and if he can discriminate between 
disease which has its seat in organic weakness and 
disruption of mind and body, between the plunging of 
an unprepared nature into a condition which is out- 
side nature, and between the sanctified interposition 
of a pure mind, a purged will, and an exalted aspira- 
tion and purpose, he will be in a position to under- 
stand what is essentially identical and what is inci- 
dentally diverse in the mystic and magnetic trance. 
His practical acquaintance with psychology and magic 
may then be applied to an appreciation of the claims 
of the mystics in respect of their ecstatic absorption, 
when, if he should bear in mind the reiterated state- 



12 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

ment which has been the keynote of this book, he will 
conclude that these things are not of faith; that is to 
say, that anyone who is vitally concerned in them 
should not stop short at the evidence and be content 
to believe. The mystics will tell him that it is open 
to him to participate in the bona Dei in terra vivcn- 
tium, but that if he will share their privileges he 
must also live their life, 

I am conscious that I have been unwillingly speak- 
ing in terms somewhat enigmatical, and it will be 
well, therefore, if, avoiding all involved details, I can 
afford to the students a few lines of plain informa- 
tion on the end that was sought \>y the mystics 
through their profound process of introspection, and 
transcendental self -hypnotising for the suspension of 
sense-correspondences, and the manifestation of the 
interior light and life. There was neither secret nor 
mystery about it; it was always openly referred to, 
precisely defined and described. At the same time, 
the methods necessarily were of an arcane or, at least, 
recondite character, because they were concerned 
with the mystery of spiritual growth, and that great 
psycho-alchemical reconstruction which has been 
emphasized in one term of many heights and wonders 
■ — the New Birth, or Regeneration. 

The union of God with the soul is the principle 
of all mystic life. But this union, the fullness and 
final consummation of which cannot be experienced 
till death has been passed through and eternity has 
been achieved, can be accomplished on this earth in 
a more or less perfect manner, and the literature of 
entire mysticism has no other end than to unveil to 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 13 

us, by a full and profound analysis of the different, 
stages of evolution in the spirit of man, the diverse 
feiiccessive degrees of this divine union. Seven dis- 
tinct stages of the soul's ascent towards Clod have 
been recognized by mystics, and they constitute what \J 
has been emblematically ^callecftlie castle of the inte- 
rior man. They represent the seven absolute proc- 
esses of psychic transfiguration. The first link in this 
arcane sequence is called the state of prayer, which, 
from the pneumatic standpoint, is the concentration 
of the intellectual energies upon God as the object of 
thought, which is commonly assisted by the ceremo- 
nial appeal made by religion to the senses. It has, 
however, a higher aspect, comprised in the second 
evolutionary process, and called the state of mental 
prayer. Here the illusory phenomena of the visible 
world are regarded as informed with an inner pneu- 
matic significance, to divine which is a chief end of 
mysticism. In order to make progress therein, and 
so attain the third stage, it is necessary that the 
aspirant, shaping all practical life in conformity with 
his theory, should perform no outward act except with 
a view to its inward meaning, all things which are 
of time and earth, and man being simply figures and 
symbols of earth and heaven and God. The postu- 
"nit, as he advances, will perceive that the inmost 
thoughts of his own conscious being are only a lim- 
ited and individual speculation of the speech and 
word of God, concealed even in its apparent reve'la'-"" 
t ioii, and itself a veil of the divine truth which must 
be removed for the contemplation of the truth abso- 
lute, which is behind it. When he has reached this 
point the mystic will have entered on the third stage 
of his illumination. This is the most difficult of all. 



14 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

It is termed by mystics the obscure night, and here 
it is necessary that the aspirant should become stark 
naked, should empty himself completely, should be 
stripped of all his faculties, renouncing all his own 
predilections, his own thoughts, his own will — in a 
word, his whole self. Aridity, weariness, temptation, 
desolation, darkness, are characteristic of this epoch, 
and they have been experienced by all who have ever 
made any progress in the mysteries of mystical love. 
The fourth condition is denominated the prayer of 
quietism. Complete immolation of self and unre- 
served surrender into the hands of God have repose 
as their first result. Such quietism, however, is not 
to be confounded with insensibility, for it leads to 
the sole real activity, to that which has God for its 
impulse. The fifth degree in the successive spiritual- 
ization of the human soul is called the state of union, 
in which the will of man and the will of God become 
substantially identified. This is the mystical irriga- 
tion which fertilizes the garden of the soul. During 
this portion of his development, the individual, 
imbued with a sovereign disdain of all things visible, 
as well as for himself, accomplishes in peace, serenity, 
and joy of spirit, the will of God, as it is made known 
to him by the word of God supernaturally speaking 
Within him. On the extreme further limit of this 
condition, the mystic enters the sixth state, which is 
that of ecstatic prayer which is the soul's transport 
above and outside itself. It constitutes a union with 
divinity by the instrument of positive love which is 
a state of sanctification, beatitude, and ineffable tor- 
rents of delight flowing over the whole being. It, is 
beyond description, it transcends illustration, and. its 
felicity is not to be conceived. Loa t c which is a t 



THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 15 

potency of the soul, or of that anima which vivifies 
our bodies,»has passed into the spirit of the soul, into 
its superior, divine, and universal form, and this proc- 
ess completed comprises the seventh and final stage 
of pneumatic development, which is that of ravish- 
ment. E enouncing all that is corporeal about it, the 
soul becomes a pure spirit, capable of being uni ted. 
in a wholly celestial maimer to the Uncreated Spirit, 
whom it beholds, loves, serves, and adores above and 
beyond all created forms. And this is the mystic 
marriage, the perfect union, the entrance of God and 
Heaven into the interior man. 

The history of Hindu supernaturalism informs us 
that in these seven stages of transcendental adoration 
the body of the mystic was seen to rise from the 
ground, and to poise itself mysteriously in space. 
Ravished by interior visions he became insensible to 
all that was passing around him, and at the same 
time his physical senses, which had suspended cor- 
respondence for the moment with normal exterior 
environment, were ministered to in a manner which 
I should term magical; he saw, heard, felt, tasted, 
but on another plane of being; and occasionally his 
indescribable ecstacy was manifested in the appari- 
tion of lights and halos about him, and in the diffu- 
sion of an unearthly fragrance. If all these phe- 
nomena are to be accepted as literally true, they sur- 
pass in degree what has been achieved by psycho- 
logical experiment at the present day, in England 
and America, but in respect of their kind and class 
they are the phenomena of ecstactic magic. 

1922. SWAMI BRAHMAV1DYA. 



FOREWORD 

The best methods to be practiced by the student 
to attain the Imperishable-Consciousness, and to fur- 
nish the physical and moral means of consummating 
the word of preparation and arriving by a graduated 
method at that peculiar ecstatic and supersensuality 
termed in my doctrine Transcendental-Consciousness 
or the Divine State is by centralizing the Ego by a 
Realizable Affirmation and by the practice of 
Samyama. 

"The angel of creative fire is the word of God, 
which word produced the earth and the vegetation 
that issues therefrom, together with the heat which 
ripens it. The word of the Creator is itself the Cre- 
ator and is also His only Son." And again: "Matter 
being only a deceptive appearance, the sun, the stars 
and the very elements are genii, while animals are 
demons and man is a pure spirit deceived by the 
illusions of forms." 

In order to become God, the breath must be 
retained — that is to say, it must be inhaled as long 
as possible, till the chest is well distended — and in 
the second place, the divine OM must be repeated 
inwardly while in this state. Expiration, in the third 
place, follows very slowly, the breath being mentally 
directed through the heavens to make contact with 
the universal ether. Those who would succeed in 

it; 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 17 

this exercise must be blind, deaf, and motionless 
as a log of wood. The posture is on knees and 
\ elbows, with the face turned to -the North. One 
nostril is stopped with a finger, the air is inhaled 
by the other, which is then closed, the action being 
accompanied by dwelling in thought on the idea that 
God is the Creator, that He is in all animals, in the 
ant even as in the elephant. The mind must be 
absorbed in these thoughts. OM is at first recited 
twelve times and afterwards twenty-four times dur- 
ing each inspiration, and then as rapidly as possible. 
This regimen must be continued for three months — 
without fear, without remission, eating and sleeping 
little. In the fourth month the Devas will manifest; 
in the fifth you will have acquired all qualities of the 
Devatas; in the sixth vou will be saved and will have 
become God. 

After the practice of this exercise in mystic 
breathing the student must be ready to pass onward 
to the following: 

With the end of one finger close the anus, and 
then draw the breath from below upwards on the 
right side; make it circulate three times round the 
second centre of the body; thence bring it to the 
navel, which is in the third centre; then to the 
fourth, which is the middle of the heart; subse- 
quently to the throat, which is the fifth; and finally 
to the sixth, which is the root of the nose. There 
retain the breath: it has become that of the universal 
soul. 

Simultaneously with this exercise think therefore 
of the Great OM, which is the name of the Creator 



IS TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE. OR 

and is that universal, pure and indivisible voice which 
fills all things. This voice is the Creator Himself, 
Who becomes audible to the contemplative after ten 
manners. The first sound is like that of a little spar- 
row; the second is twice the first in volume; the third 
is like the sound of a cymbal; the fourth is as a 
murmur of a great shell; the fifth is comparable to 
the song of* the Indian lyre; the sixth is like the sound 
of the instrument called tal; the seventh resembles 
the sound of a bacabou flute; held close to the ear; 
the eighth is like that of the instrument called 
Pakaoudj, which is struck with the hand; the ninth 
isiilike the sound of a little trumpet and the tenth like 
that of a thunder cloud. At each of these sounds 
the contemplative passes through different states, 
and at the" tenth he becomes Gk)d. At the first sound 
the hairs of his whole body rise erect; at the second, 
his limbs become torpid; at the third, he feels through 
all his frame the kind of exhaustion which follows 
the intercourse of love; at the fourth, his head swims 
and he is as one intoxicated; at the fifth, the life-force 
flows back into his brain; at the sixth, this force 
descends into him and he is nourished thereon ; at 
the seventh, he becomes the master of vision, can 
see into the hearts of others, and hears the most 
distant voices; at the ninth he becomes so ethereal 
that he can pass wheresoever Jie will and can see 
without being seen, like the angels; at the tenth, he 
becomes the universal and indivisible voice. He is 
the great creator, the eternal being, exempt from all 
and, having become the perfect peace, he dispenses 
peace to the world. 



PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF TRANSCENDENT? 

SCIENCE. 

By a Member of the Brotherhood. 

In dealing with the question of religion, it would 
seem that the Western world has allowed to be over- 
looked, or obscured by other issues, the two supremely 
important elements, beauty and r^apture". The color 
that the stern Puritan pulpiteers gave to the religious' 
thought of America has persisted in clouding the glory 
of the picture. The emphasis was laid too much on the 
dark side. Fear was the dominant accent. And while 
our younger generation (the most fearless and tradi- 
tionless that we have ever bred) has thrown off, with 
a shrug of half-amused contempt, the dogma of a ma- 
terial Hell, with all its concomitants of eternal fire, 
pitchforks and personal devils, there is still a vital lack 
somewhere in the present-day orthodox presentations' 
of religion that is making itself more and more insist- 
ently felt. There is still far too much narrowness and 
traditional acceptance in the presentation of truth of 
our ecclesiastics, far too little broad and original think- 
ing; far too much of the old dogma of fear and differen- 
tiation, far too little of the new tradition of courage 
and unity to be heard in our churches. 

The Hindu sages, and many of the "wise men" of 
other lands, expect the coming of a new Teacher — a 
great Master, who shall preach Tolerance and Concord 
to all men, and who shall give the race a fresh impetus 

1!) 



20 f RANSCENDEtif -SCIENCE, OR 

on its long journey toward perfection. His message is, 
as yet, a sealed book to us, but it seems almost certain 
that we may look for a fuller revelation of our relation- 
ship to the mysterious and infinite' Universe of God, 
and of our own divine and glorious destiny in it, than 
lias ever yet been vouchsafed us* The race is growing 
up into the light, and although its "growing pains" 
have been sharp, and its adolescence forward, signs of 
maturity are appearing, nevertheless, to the seeing eye. 

There were few amongst even the most intimate 
followers of Jesus who understood His teachings. The 
simple doctrine of the Sermon on the Mount was 
enough to perplex the materiality of His day, and 
when He spoke to the people in the speech of the adept, 
they were thrown into complete mental confusion. 
And so, because so few of those who heard Him had 
"ears to hear," much of His message was misconstrued 
or wholly lost to the age, and must be given anew, let 
our prayer be to a wiser and more comprehending gen- 
eration. 

Since our Master's time, the race has swept on to 
all the triumphs of civilization. Riches and invention 
were at their height, and man was almost ready to 
boast, "In the strength of mine own arm have I gotten 
me this victory," when suddenly all the treasured ac- 
cumulation of the earth was swept into vast debacle 
of "lust, anger and avarice, those three passages to the 
hell of lower re-birth." The flower of the youth of all 
nations paid the price in its blood, and the prosperity 
of the world was left tottering, when the force of the 
storm had spent its fury. 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 2l 

But suffering is the great interpreter of life. Out 
of the blopcl, the murk, the famine and the torment, 
the light of reason is beginning to dawn with a new 
radiance. The eyes that have looked on death and dis- 
solution are open, after that, to new rays, and it is in 
the spirit of an almost breathless expectancy, that 
mankind looks forth towards new horizons. 

Out of the East, the herald of this new day, has 
come, on a mission to the Western world, the Hiero- 
phant Swami Bhagat Brahmavidya. He brings a neo- 
logism, or new doctrine, which is " distinct from ali 
other systems of religion; yet it is the essence of all. 
It is based on the constitution of man, and is therefore 
ancient, eternal and universal. It is not sectarian, not 
confined to age or country." The son of the proudest 
of races, to which "caste" has been, itself, a religion* 
he says: "All mankind are of one caste, and all are 
equally entitled to embrace the 'Brahmavidya' or 

Transcendent Science Religion It is the aim of 

the Teacher Brahmavidya to extinguish caste hatred 
and animosity, and bind all mankind into one frater- 
nity — one brotherhood of souls." 

He is but a young man, this High Priest of ancient 
mysteries, yet the wisdom of India, that land which has 
pondered the spiritual destiny of man more profound- 
ly than any other, is his heritage. He brings to his mis- 
sion a knowledge of "Things Unseen," and he speaks 
with the authority of that knowledge. He brings to 
us, too, that which we have so missed in our own cold 
and colorless presentations of religion — the mystic 
beauty and rapture of the unfoldment of the Soul; the 
supreme romance of its quest for Truth. Itself airl 



22 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

God, this modern Trinity of the new age; this Three- 
In-One of the growing religions consciousness of the 
people. He utters no threat to arouse the stubborn- 
ness of the defiant, ho word of condemnation to dismay 
the frailty of the sinful; he speaks to his brothers of 
" the indestructible nectar of immortality, of imme- 
morial righteousness, and of unending bliss" for those 
who will follow and uphold the Unchangeable law of 
God. 

In a paper setting forth the canon of his neologism, 
which he has called "The Tradition of Truth," the 
Swami Brahma vidya says: "The race of the flesh- 
born has lost the faculty possessed by its ancestors of 
seeing the common soil Whence the tree of each one's 
religion draws its sustenance One man calls an- 
other a sinner whose conscience finds no echo in his 
reaction. Plow shall I teach the flesh-born the gospel 
of forbearance?" It is this lost faculty which "Brah- 
ma vidya," or Transcendent-Science, seeks to restore 
to us, for with the restoration to mankind of Charity 
and Concord, we cannot but be bound again into "one 
brotherhood of souls." 

"The law is to know Thyself and to attain unto 
the Supreme Imperishable." Brotherhood and the 
rapturous knowledge of the Divine Self and of "a con- 
scious immortality," these are the ways of Truth and 
Light into which the Swami Brahma vidya has been 
sent, "by the Lord of Wisdom" to lead his fellow-men. 
"But," he says, "my voice on earth, like His in Heaven 
is like the piping of soft music on the shores of a murky 
sea maddened by the howling dogs of the tempest." 
Must we not, then, in order that our dull ear may catch 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 



23 



these precious strains, still the tempest of earthly dis- 
cord that ijages around Us, filling our hearts and minds 
with disharmony ad confusion, and listen with all the 
intentuess of our souls to the lifting delights of this 
"soft music?" 

ELIZABETH ALDEN CURTIS, 
Fellow of Brahma vid van Brotherhood. 
March 31, 1922. 




CHAPTER I 

THE FOUNDATION 

Existence as we know it is Sorrow. This means 
that to be alive and to exist in the flesh is to live in 
the Mansion of Sorrow. For such is the Fleshly 
Abode of the Terrestial. For the Terrestial and the 
Celestial are not One — nay, never will be. Such is 
the Two, and not the One. 

This is to be taken literally; that the life and 
lives of all men are mapped out, that when they 
Come on this earthly plane of existence they must 
partake of this sorrow, and this whether they so 
desire or not. This is very truthful and no man can 
deny this old fact. But man nevertheless will and 
does try to change this, but let us see whether he 
really does or not. Can this sentence of Fate be 
reversed? It has been repeatedly said that man, that 
every man is a condemned criminal, only that he does 
hot know the date of his execution. Is" this the truth, 
or is it not? 

Throughout the ages and also now in the present 
time, this is and will ever remain_the same. All the 
great Hindu philosophical systems contain this fact. 
Also all the religions of mankind practically have 
started with this fact in view, hence, giving a reward 
to the earthly pilgrims, or rather offering them a 
reward of immortality after their pilgrimage here. 

2i 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 25 

All religions have superabundantly promised this 
reward, aiifl it is not only now, though greater now 
that mankind strives to penetrate beyond and behind 
these promises of the theologians. Men in all coun- 
tries and elimes have at times suffered even death 
rather than imbibe such egoistical teachings as are 
and as were propounded by the so-called learned. 
So even now we may casually watch and not in an 
unconcerned way the great streams of humanity that 
pay homage to that mystic something which men call 
or term spiritualism. Even Spiritualism has not 
failed in giving its watered flocks these spme prom- 
ises, so the present breaking up of all religions is 
due to the fact that people have asked to see the 
securities. 

But there is a something that we may term the 
Unseen Superior by which this state of Unknowing 
may be transformed into the Knowing. There is this 
ineffable something that will keep and maintain us 
here on earth without being bankrupt. All our 
knowledge is based upon experience. What we know 
must rest upon the bedrock of this experience, or 
else it is not true knowledge. We might as well 
row as ever state that all the many and varied forms 
of religions demand faith. In fact, this is their great 
stamping ground. Why? If they did not resort to 
this or firstly demand this their system would be ni 
i bsolute failure. 

All systems of Religions, though, have agree:! 
upon this — ihrt it is worthy of man to devote him- 
self to that Supreme and most Highest, which they 
term God. In between and above these lines we 
might say that the primal origin of religions was the 



25 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

outgrowth of Evolution and Spirituality, a spiritual- 
ity of infinite and majestic grandeur that was so 
conceived. What was this spirituality? It was the 
aspiration of the living soul as expressed by the 
finite intellect. 

We might explain and define the words Miracle, 
Supernatural and trust that all will reciprocate our 
definition and thus approbate our finite endeavors. 
The literal, and in fact any aspect or phase of this 
word, may be rationally defined. It means that which 
is an outgrowth of the normal consciousness and has 
been transmitted or projected from the super-con- 
scious mind of man. The word supernatural means 
literally the original state of Unity that man must 
inevitably re-ascend and re-attain unto. When he 
attains or re-emerges back into his first state of mind 
and soul, then we may call such a one Supernatural. 
But more correctly Natural. The philosophers have 
merely put and placed the words in the wrong cate- 
gory and place. Thus illiterate are confounded and 
puzzled. The word mystery means Ignorance. For 
the only Mystery extant is Ignorance and Maya, 
which things are all Illusions. 

Now we shall approach a more wonderful ami 
explanatory side of this analysis. What is there in 
common between Buddha, Mohammed and Christ? 
What is there in this that is also in common between 
Mohammedanism, Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism and 
Christianity? This is the missing link that will sup- 
ply us the hidden evidence of the Great Superior 
Unseen. (No point of doctrine, no point of ethics, no 
theory of a "hereafter" do they share, and yet in the 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF kMoJVLEDGE 27 

history of their lives and in their religions we are 
able herein to find by our subtle analyzation one iden- 
tity amid the many diversities.) 

Buddha was born a Prince, and died a beggar. 

Mohammed was born a beggar, and died a Prince. 

Christ remained obscure until many years after 
his death. Elaborate lives of each of these three 
men have been written and handed down to posterity 
by their devotees, and there is one thing (in) common 
to all three — an omission. Nothing is heard of the 
Christ between the ages of twelve and thirty, Moham- 
med disappeared into a cave. Whilst the Buddha left 
his great and wonderfully rich place, and went for a 
long while into the desert. 

Each of them, perfectly silent up to the time of 
their disappearance, came back and immediately 
began to preach a New Law. This is so remarkably 
novel and coincident that it leaves us all to inquire 
whether the histories of other great teachers contra- 
dict or affirm. St. Paul, after his adventure on the 
road to Damascus, goes into the desert of Arabia for 
many years, and on his return overturns the Roman 
Empire. Even in the legends of savages we find the 
same thread of truth to be universal; somebody who 
is nobody in particular goes away for a longer or 
shorter period, and comes back as the "speaker of the 
(Treat Unseen"; but nobody ever knows what hap- 
pened to him. 

Moses we may herein also and alike consider. He 
led a tranquil and serene life in his environment 



/ 



28- TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

until his slaying of the Egyptian. He then fled to 
and into the land of Midian, and we never have heard 
irohi the pages of the Book of History that which 
History is supposed to bequeath to posterity what 
he did while he was there, but immediately, or rather 
instantly upon his return, he turns the tables, and 
tears the entire place upside down. Later, too, he 
absents himself on Mount Sinai for a few days, and 
comes back with the Tables of the Law in his hand. 

So by inference and induction, or by whatever name 
that we may so desire to state, even if we say this 
is "coincidence," we can easily perceive that it is 
above suspicion and is a true and supreme and incon- 
trOvertiMe fact-M;hat we realize whether we believe 
or know it to be or hot — from this one coincidence 
that "A nobody goes away, and comes back a some- 
body." 

One writer has said that "There is not the small : 
est ground for the contention that these wore from 
the start exceptional men. Mohammed would have 
hardly driven a camel until he was thirty -five years 
old if he had possessed any talent or ambition. St. 
Paul had much original ability; but he is the least 
t>f the five. "Nor do they seem to have possessed 
any of the usual materials of power, such as rank, 
fortune, or influence.'' 

We have seen also that whether they did some- 
thing or were merely alone for a long or short period 
of time, that wherever they went when they disap- 
peared they came back with a most marvelously 
something. That they were changed men there is 




THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 2$ 

no doubt. What was the nature of this? What was 
the nature of their power? 

What happened to them during their absence from 
their friends and homes and countries and environ- 
ments f Where will we ever be able to find the Key 
to this ? Will we, when finding it, use it for a similar 
and a like purpose? Poor history, like all the things 
of the material world of Maya, will not afford us 
much in regard to that which has been hidden now 
and throughout all the remoter and ancient ages. 
But we nevertheless shall by " Common-Sense " and 
by exercising Rational Judgment be able to assimilate 
what has been printed between the lines on the pages 
of what history has already recorded. And what is 
this that history has recorded? And what is this that 
is between the lines? We shall see! 

History has remained silent in regard to this, for 
history does not Know! This is very Honest and 
square on the part of poor History, but the men them- 
selves have left accounts in a truthful way, so that 
from what they have to say we can therein perceive 4 
the one thread of Truth that runs throughout: the 
entire garment that has been spun by all of thorn. 
Christ for one was silent; some of the others tell us 
something vague and still others more. 

Gautama out of all men was the only one that has 
gone into detail regarding this matter that we are 
now so intently interested in. He attained unto the 
supreme secret (sunnnum bonum) for; e of the Visible 
and Invisible Worlds and mastered it. And the Key 
he has left to Posterity. 



30 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 



The others have not done this. Take for instance 
Moses. He said that he "beheld God"; St. Paul gave 
us only a casual allusion of what he received and said 
that he was "caught up into Heaven, and saw and 
heard things of which it was not lawful to speak"; 
while Mohammed crudely speaks and says of having 
been "visited by the Angel Gabriel," who communi- 
cated things from "God"; and Christ merely said that 
"I and my Father are One." 

The thread that runs through the garment is One 
and may be called by many names, but it neverthe- 
less must now and forevermore remain the same. 
This thread is Truth- — they left their homes in the 
search of this Truth, and upon finding it, came back 
to give it to the world. Only the way that it was 
given is remarkable, they gave it and spoke of it 
exactly in the wa}^ that they as individuals had 
received it, and according to their own receptivity 
and knowledge and consciousness. A hungry man 
can consume more food than one that has no appetite 
and does not so desire to eat, also a dog can run faster 
when someone throws stones at him; even so did 
these men receive according to their consciousness of 
assimilation. Too much water will drown. So, 
according to the depths of their minds and their 
capacity were the waters of the Living Fruit of all- 
Life poured in. This is the only difference in the 
lives and teachings of all of them. Their leaving 
home, their principles of thought and their methods 
are and were practically the same; in fact, they are 
One. They are identically the same, excepting in elu- 
cidation and in method of practice. 



THE SCIENCE OE SELE KNOWLEDGE Si 

What did tliese men depart from tlieir homes and 
their countries foff For what purpose did they dis- 
engage themselves from humanity? It is self-evident! 
The First commandment is: Thou shaft Love the' 
Lord thy (rod with all thy heart and Soul." How 
could they love this so-called God unless they knew 
whom this God was and wher'e 1 he was? This shows 
that the only rational and, if I might say, " Common- 
Sense " method was to obtain first Self-Knowledge* 
For by doing this the Supreme-Great- All can be Real- 
ized, and only by the Knowledge' of the Self, can this 
be done. We all think that this is 1 reasonable, do you? 

The methods advised by all religions' of the earth 
and even of these men themselves have a startling 
resemblance to one another. T^hey all recommend 
"virtue" (of various kinds), solitude, absence of ex- 
citement, moderation in diet, and finally a practice 
which some call prayer and some others term medi- 
tation. (The former rout may turn out oh examina- 
tion to be merely conditions favorable to the last.) 
Now we shall speak in regard to the Doctrine that is 
expounded by the Brahmavidyan Brotherhood and 
the Transcendent Science Society, to enable one to 
attain this state of Self-Knowledge, and to be Self- 
illnmined. To attain unto (loci and to be with Him, 
and to walk within the gates of His abode, and td 
commune with Him and then finally to abide' within 
Him forevermore throughout all Eternity, which is 1 
without Fnd and Ending and is Aeonian find For- 
evermore. 

"Try to Realize (within thyself) that whence arise" 
these beings, by which they stand sustained, and unto 



32 TRAtiSCEtfDENT-S£lENCE } OR 



Which they return and become h&Ught;— -that indeed 
is the Absolute. ' ' 

To those" who seek for Peace, wd wbuid be glad to 
teli yoli herein and now that that state of J)e3*feet 
Holiness ahd Perfection can blily be realized aiid at- 
tained here oh earth by Self -Renunciation. This is 
the first step oh the Patb that leads to Self-Mastery. 
Ve'rily, there is only one step and this wd proclaim 
first to yoii. Many are the Paths that lead to destruc- 
tion (discord), but there" is only One that ieads to 
Heaven (God), and that is the Path of Attainment. 
There 1 are many steps on the Path of Attainment, but 
verily, the first stejp is Self-Penunciatiom 

Well may he who contemplates his 1 5wn intrinsic 
weakness and misery, as opposed to the perfection 
set before him by God as his aim, cry out with Job: 
"My soul is Weary of life!" But he must not stop 
here oi* there 1 , or suffer anything short of that Exam- 
ple which men might scarce dare hope to follow but 
for the gracious WordS: "Be ye perfect, even as your 
Father Which is in Heaven is perfect." And as we 
gaze on that Fxamplc, we cannot fail to perceive the 
man Christ set before lis 1 a model of the most abso- 
lute self-surrender, active and passive, in his cease- 
less toil for the accomplishment of his Father's busi- 
ness; and in his long-suffering and patience under 
every most bitter form of agony, mental and bodily, 
which consumed him from Bethlehem to Calvary, for 
man's salvation and his Father's Glory. 

"I have given you an example, that ye should do 
as I have done to you," and accordingly, each in our 
measure, we must strive to offer up our whole being 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 3J 

in entire self-surrender to (rod, remembering that 
therein we do but give Hint that which is His. 

To practice this renunciation will inevitably lift 
one's mind consciously right Up into the Heaven- 
world of God, Will make one become One with Him — 
with Him the Eternal Father. This is the reason why 
we place this instruction first oil our lists for Attain- 
ment. When we strive to give consciously all our" 
heart and soul to ffiitn the Indestructible Supreme* 
Eternal; we give All to the All, remembering that 
herein we do but give Him thai Which is His. 

One most important point in this subject is duly 
to bear in mind that it is not in great matters only 
that we are continually to offer ourselves for the 
Glory of God. The trifles of daily life often tend to 
promote that as much or more than those rare events 
wherein He may call some favored servants to mag- 
nify His Holy Name. He would have Us offer our' j 
selves a living sacrifice to Him, and in no wise can 
that be done save by dying daily to self, and thus con- 
tinually drawing nearer and nearer to Him. God's 
Glory and forgetfulness of self — such must be the aini 
of all true spiritual life. ' 'Redeem the time, because 
the days are evil." And "Praise the Lord, O my 
soul, and all that is within me praise His Holy 
Name." 

There is a passive surrender to God, which lies 
chiefly in a loving acceptance of whatever He may 
Jay upon us. This is the Law that worketh in the 
flesh, for sorrow is a product of this existence as we 
know it. All through life the body tends gradually 
to decay — natural deformity, unforeseen events, as 



34 fMtfsCMMNfsciErfcK, OR 

of accident and disease, the gradual advance of age — 
all these waste our individual strength, and demand 
of us a continual sacrifice, whether we will or no. 
^As the waters fail from the se'a, and the 1 flood de- 
cayeth and drieth up, so man lieth down and riseth 
hot; .1 .. 2 : .;.: the waters weaf the stones. Thou wash- 
est away the things which grow out of the dust, and 
Thou destroyest the hope of then." To sUch inevi- 
table sacrifices we must submit humbly and willingly, 
asking nothing save that the Glory of the Ineffable 
God that is within us might be thus by Non-Resist- 
ance, attained, and that His Divine Glory of all Im- 
perishability may be so thuswise set forth in our in- 
firmity, crying out with faithful Job: "Though He 
slay me, yet will I trust in Him," calmly awaiting 
the time when we will lay down our mortal frame 
"as a garment that is moth-eaten." Or that we 
shall attain unto that Peace here and now by the 
Realization that is and has been within our Self in 
the Past, in the Present and shall forevermore be in 
the unknown Future that awaits us. Yet how maii} T 
men struggle and rebel against His Hand when it 
presses on them in bodily suffering % How many at- 
tain unto him in this mortal life — -thus living forever- 
more. 

That is real bliss which has no conditions; in the 
conditioned there can be no happiness; — the Uncon- 
ditioned albne is bliss; try to realize the Uncondi- 
tioned (in thyself)* 

We have the sentence of death in ourselves, that 
we should not trust in ourselves, but in God Which 
raiseth the dead. Thus Natural Death is not more an 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 30 

inevitable necessity in passing from time to Eternity 
than a death to earthly inclinations and passions is 
for those who would attain to the hidden spiritual 
life; and so it is that every one who aims at that in- 
terior life must realize within himself that " sentence 
of death.' * He would travel the Path to the One like 
the Yogas, must do this; he who would tread in the 
footsteps of the Great Hindu Saints must be ready to 
die their death, which is precious in the Sight of the 
Supreme Lord of Life. This Death is the Mortifica- 
tion of the Senses. Such a death to the things that 
are objective and exterior, so that the resurrection of 
that which is interior and subjective might come. 
Such a death to the things of sense is as entirely part 
of God's design for His redeemed creatures (the low- 
er after merging into the higher) as physical death 
became through Adam's sin; and the eon 1 which loves 
Him evidently must prepare to tread through that 
shadow, certain that there, too, as in the valley of 
material death, He the Supreme Father will be our 
Guide and Strength. 

Now our bodies become subject to death through 
various causes — violence, injuries, overwhelming 
crosses, lack of needful nourishment, or excessive toil 
or endurance, which exhaust the physical system. So 
likewise spiritual mortification (which is another 
word for death) implies suffering of all kinds Willing j 
ly accepted, and that without any inward consolation 
from God or man. Nor must it be a mere passive en- 
durance; the soul should aim at offering itself cease- 
lessly to God. Thus the three principles on which 
this spiritual death must be founded are — to endure! 
all, to receive nothing, and to do all for God. 



TRAtfsCMDMt-SClEMCE, OR 



Every true Yoga and every trite Brahmavidyan, 
even the most easy going, is prepared to grant that 
suffering is 1 inevitable, but having granted the" gen- 
eral proposition We forthwith seek in every way to 
avoid it in detail. We would avert suffering from this 
or that quarter, resist it from this or that hand. But 
such is not our rightful course. Strive rather to give 
yourself up to accept all Crosses, whether they come 
directly from the Hand of God Himself or indirectly 
through His creatures. All are alike His instruments, 
and it is not your part to choose what you will bear 
or reject. 6hi} r the Son of born Knowledge can do 
this, only the 1 Re-Born! 

In the sahle 1 way, if He permits you to be harassed 
by the power, by temptations, bodily or spiritual, be 
patient; He uses mairy things to try Us with, and 
they, too, are 1 His instruments. Moreover, you must 
resign yourself to the sufferings of which you are the 
cause to yourself; the secret troubles and distresses 
which arise from the rebellion of our corrupt lower 
nature. But this is hot all. After accepting the prin- 
ciple of ah unreserved submission sohie begin to raise 
fresh difficulties. One man thinks he can endure any 
physical suffering, but he cannot accept inward temp- 
tation; another is prepared to endure this, but he 
shrinks from bodily pain and weakness; and a third 
could bear both these forms of trial, but it seems im- 
possible to sit quiet under the loss of his good name. 
This, however* is not unqualified submission. 

You must, like the Hindu Yogis* strive to give 
yourself up to every possible form of suffering, be it 
of one kind or another, without any reserve or self- 



THE SCIENCE OP SElP 'KNOWLEDGE §1 

will, leaving all to the Iheifable God, even when 
"from the sole of the foot unto the head, all is wounds 
and bruises and sores.' ' Perhaps this step is gained, 
and yon acknowledge that you have no right to choose 
what sufferings you will accept or reject, but then 
human nature tries to assert itself in a fresh direc- 
tion, and revolts against aii indefinite prolongation 
of pain. This victory, too, must be Won. 

You must bring yourself to JDtit away all limits of 
your endurance to accept crushing bodily pain, seem- 
ingly inexhaustible temptations, total ruin, irretriev* 
able calumny. True death to self knows no self^ 
chosen point at which to stop. You can never say 
safely, "It is enough." The Yogis know this and al- 
ways overcome, and you are expected to do likewise 
— to never turn your back to this fact. And remem> 
ber that to even try, will result in an absolute loss of 
your faculties or at least mental aberration. This is 
an age-old fact and hence it is immutable and eternal, 
Remember that Lot's wife only looked back, and she 
was turned into a pillar of Salt. 

Then Nature tries another refuge— the relief of 
murmurs and lamentations. But here again you must 
die to self, by striving to bear your pain silently. 
Whoever heard a dead man complaint Bemember 
that God's chastisements are seldom so heavy as we 
think they will be, or as they deserve to be, and do 
not cry out eagrly to be delivered from what He lays 
upon you. Do not be so eager for the compassion of 
men; you will thereby lose one of the choicest graces 
of your cross, which is won by silent suffering. \)t> 
not be so ready to describe your sufferings in vivid 



38 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE', OR 

colors to every listener; do not even give way to un- 
restrained sighs and groans when alone, they are 
signs that you are yet far front the real death of self. 

There is but one last effort which self can make 
When all these successive battles have been fought 
and won^that is satisfaction in the consciousness of 
our great and admirable endurance. This, too, must 
be overcome^. You must suffer without setting any 
value upon your sufferings, however great and how- 
ever patiently borne. To this end, never allow jovoc 
mind to dwell upon them — -that is mere weakness and 
self-indulgence, which exaggerate everything. Rather 
let your thoughts dwell Upon the far greater crosses 
which have been borne by so many holy souls, and 
your own will sink into insignificance; and jou will 
feel ashamed to see bow trifling your cross is in com- 
parison witb what }^ou deserve. Better still, look out 
of yourself, and raise your heart to God, and never 
forget that while resistance cannot avert every pang, 
and give yoii strength and courage to bear all things 
profitably. 

There is another principle of this spiritual death, 
i. e., to be willing to deceive nothing. No real Yoga 
will accept gifts, this signifies weakness. Hence, to 
Give all and receive nothing is the Law of Brahma- 
vidya. We are apt to feel as though we had a right 
by reason of our suffering to all spiritual consola- 
tions. Practically eveiy one who suffers expects sup- 
port and comfort eitber from God or men. Even the 
most truly religious are tempted to rest on the belief 
that sensible support will accompany their trial hour; 
that they Will be sustained through some tangible 



fej SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 33 

grace, some conviction Of safety, some hidden source 
of strehgtji, or, if frohl nothing else, at least from the 
certainty that all trials come from Him, the Inde- 
structible, Supreme Eternal Lord of the Universe. 
But true 1 death to self requires us to be ready to suf- 
fer without any consolation. This sounds hard, but 
are we who bear the cross to iook for our own solace 
under it? God will Comfort us as He sees fit, but it is" 
our part to be willing to go without consolation, and, 
if He pleases, even to bear our trials without any 
mitigation. Be content to suffer without receiving 1 
comfort from }^our fellowmen. I do not mean that 
you must never seek or accept srnf consolation from 1 
them, but that if it pleases God to try you with sore 
distress in which there is no alleviation, you should 
freely accept your position, especially as regards your 1 
fellow-creatures, who for the most part are incapable 
of giving any real comfort, either because they set to 
work the wrong way, not really understanding your 
grief, or because that grief is too deeply seated to be* 
reached by their weak hand. In truth, the hidden 
sorrows of the soul cannot be soothed by any save 
Him who lays theni oh lis, and there are few who have* 
not felt at times that human comfort was more hin- 
dering than helping. Whether this be so or not, we 
must accept the privation meekly, if God chooses that 
our course of sorrow be lonely. "The wind of the 
Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and his foun- 
tain shall be dried up; He shall spoil the treasure of 
all pleasant vessels." Even if He gives us earthly" 
comforts, their very best can do but little for those on 
whom God's Hand is pressing. 

It is still harder to resign youi'self to do without 
any immediate consolation from God, and yet it may 



40 TRANSCENDENT-SCtENCE, OR 

be that He will have it so. What are we that He 
should deign io visit us? Or how dare we, knowing 
what we are, look for such grace at His Hand? Sure- 
ly, the consciousness of our own unworthiness ought 
to make us jpatient under^ privation of His consola- 
tions. How dare such as I ahi ask Him to stoop to 
my misery? ' 'Behold He taketh away, who can hin- 
der Him? Whd will say unto Him, What doest Thou? 
. . . Thou art hot a man as 1 am that I should answer 
Thee." Further you must give yourself up to do 
without one ray of light and your thickest darkness, 
believing that such often is the path of faith ("I have 
made my bed in the darkness"), and that the soul 
may walk therein with greater security than in the 
broad light of day, because earthly shadows do not 
interfere, but God carries out His own work undis- 
turbed. Be sure that whatever comfort you might 
receive by such extraneous light would be worthless, 
as compared to the real gain of the darkness of God 
so appoint for you. 

Nay, even amid the sharpest agonies of soul, you L 
must be ready to do without the sensible consolations 
of grace, willingly renouncing them as taking off the 
bloom of a pure, unresedved sacrifice of self, and bind- 
ing down the soul to imperfect surrender of will. Do 
you strive even to prefer your unalleviated pain, 
training yourself to be very watchful against a self- 
indulgent desire for any mitigation. If strange per- 
plexities of conscience come upon you, resign your- - 
self to be left without inward assurance as to your 
spiritual condition, and learn to stand full of awe 
before God, without any cowardly impatience to 
escape at once from fear into the soothing rest of His 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 4i 

Love. This is a point in the hidden life too often 
neglected. We ought to cling to Clod in His terrors 
as well as" in His loving kindness, delighting to pay 
Him the homage of holy fear ii addition to that of 
perfect love. 

Further, amid the 1 searching pains and desolations 
which at times sweep away all sensible comfort, re- 
sign yourself to do without the secret strength which 
arises from the thought that you are God's. Christ 
says, "Whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall 
find it;" and you must learn to We the total loss of 
self, because thereby you will find a new and far more 
blessed self in God, although how yoii cannot itnder^ 
stand either the loss or the recovery. But you do 
know that to find God is worth all other 1 loss. 

Finally, if you have thought to find comfort iii 
the remembrance that God sees you, offer up this con- 
solation, too, reminding yourself that you are un- 
worthy of Sis glance or attention, you who are 
naught and less than naught. This will put the last 
stroke to your self-sacrifice. But be sure you will 
lose nothing by thus laying your soul before God in 
all simplicity, asking ho consolation from any source 
whatever. He sees your ready offering. He fathoms 
the depths of your renunciation, and you are more 
acceptable to Him thus, than when overflowing with 
spiritual delights. Surely you heed ask no more than 
that He should be satisfied, and accept your service 
as* faithful. 

We have seen how much courage you need to suf- 
fer, still more to suffer without consolation; but there 
is one step liar lei' still, — to do all this for God's sake 



42 TRANSCEtiDENf-SCIENCE, OR 

bnty. Great suffering induces a sort of torpor, as 
though suffering justified lis in remaining passive. 
But he who Would give himself' wholly to God must 
rise out of himself, and give 1 the last deathblow to 
nature by still doing 4 everything for God — -consuming 
and pouring himself out for Him Who is our Maker 
and Author^ giving hack, as it were, the 1 gift He gave. 
Such ah unquestioning submission, Avhich asks lio pal- 
liation, yet strives to serve* God to the last breath, is 
indeed the 1 fulfilment of St. PaiiPs precept, and he 
who attains to it will £i not tntst in himself, but in 
God, Which raiseth the dead." 

The Subjects for Contemplation and Meditation 
are thus; 

(1) The origin and constitution of the tJhiverse. 

(2) The nature of Knowledge' and its instruments 

(such as mind, etc.) 

(3) The discrimination of the soul and its immor- 

tality; 

(4) The future state of the Soil! and its wanderings. 

(5) The Cause of bur embodied existence. 

(6) The OaUse of pleasure and pain. 

(7) Moral Law (Karma). 

(8) Bondage and Liberation. 

(9) Personal God and the Absolute, or Impersonal 

God. One aim inspires the whole body of Brah- 
mavidya's L)arsahas and that is Liberation — 
Mukti". 

One aim inspires the whole body of Brahma vidya's 
t)arsanas, and that is, Liberation — Mukti. 



THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 43 

As tlie waters of the ocean have only one taste, 
which is ,salt, so the Darsanas have only one aim, 
which is Liberation. 

Man wants to be liberated, to be free — free from 
the imperfections of his own nature — physical, in- 
tellectual, moral and spiritual. This aspiration is 
seated deep down in the very nature of our spiritual 
consciousness, and finds eloquent expression in the 
songs of the Upanishads and in the aphorisms of the 
Darsanas. To attain to Freedom and Soul-Emancipa- 
tion, means to be holy and wise and perfect, as God 
is perfect, wise and holy. Different philosophers have 
interpreted freedom in different ways; for instance, 
Kapila says that freedom means the realization of 
the independence of the spirit from the material prin- 
ciple in which it finds itself tangled. This state of 
perfection means complete freedom from the vicis- 
situdes of terrestial existence, but this may be taken 
in two ways: First, that the soul may be completely 
extinguished, just as the flame of a candle is extin- 
guished; or that the soul may return to God from 
Whom it arose. 

In the Brahmavidyan Doctrine of Transcendent- 
Science, this is not to be interpreted as partial or 
total extinction of the Self, that the Maya is to be 
swallowed up into the Reality — the Supreme All — the 
Supreme One. This is substantiated by Brahmavidya 
in many ways, which you, the reader, will perceive in 
due time as you read on; and also that the Brah- 
mavidyan Doctrine on Nirvana docs not imply, does 
not state, and does not mean the extinction of the im- 
mortal spirit that resides in the heart of man, but of 



44 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 



the MAYA— this — of the lower ego which is the seal 
of all selfishness and imperfection. The Buddha im- 
plied the same, but even today few can seem to realize 
that that was what he implied and meant. That this 
is so seems probable from what he said on one oc- 
casion when he took some dry leaves into the hollow 
of his hand, and asked his disciple Ananda to tell him 
whether there were any other leaves besides these, to 
which Ananda replied; 

"The leaves of autumn are falling on all sides, and 
there are more of them than can be numbered." 

Then the Buddha said: "In like manner I have 
given you a handful of truths, but besides these there 
are many thousands of other truths, more than can 
be numbered." 

What is this one idea that has been followed out 
throughout the ages—- from Time immemorial'? All 
philosophical speculation can be traced in the Rig 
Veda, which is the oldest of all the Vedas; there we 
iind such passages as the following: 

"The poets and prophets discover Cod in their 
hearts. Beyond light and darkness, there He shine- 
in His wonderful Majesty." 

The entire Vedic literature is filled with refer- 
ences to the existence of God, and man's need to 
realize Him. The Upanishads, of which at the pres- 
ent time there are only 108 in number, are full of the 
loftiest poetry with regard to the immortality of the 
soul, the Creator of this universe, and the final libera- 
tion of man through the knowledge of "the Cod who 



the Science oP SelF knowledge 



45 



dwells iii the cavity of the heart. ' ' All the philosoph- 
ical speculations of the world can be traced to the 
Upanishads, which are an inexhaustible storehouse of 
scientific and philosophic ideas. 




Chapter 11. 

swami brahma vidya's neologism on 
*he supreme life es- 
sences: "agasa." 

"All manifestation of Force or Energy, whether of Prana or 
of Akasa, depends upon an amanuensis ; and this vehiculum 
is Agasa. "=^Swami Brahmavidya. 

Complete Renunciation is realizable and attained 
by Postures which bring the sum total of faculties of 
the psychic and physical body into a perfect state of 
tranquillity. Then comes the Breathing processes. 
Breathing is only one of the many processes through 
which We get to the real control of the psychic prana. 
Akasa which is omnipresent, all penetrating exist- 
ence, and of which all things that have form are 
evolved. Akasa is the infinite omnipresent material 
of the universe, and it is this prana which is infinite, 
omnipresent manifesting power of this akasa. Every- 
thing that is evolved out of this infinite prana is agasa 
— the powers that proceed out from our mental, 
psychic and physical organisms. By control of this 
prana along with inhalation and inhibition of this 
agasa, for both must go together, as they are insep- 
arable, comes these following powers: The powers 
are in three orders, and then agan sub-divided into 
three more. The First Order is as follows: 

(1) He beholds God face to face, without dying, 
and converses familiarly with the seven genii Avho 

4(i 



THE SCIENCE OP SELE KNOWLEDGE 47 

command the entire celestial army. (2) He is above 
all afflictions and all fears. (3) He reigns with all 
heaven and is served With all hell. (4) He disposes 
with and of his own health and life and can equally 
influence that of others. (5) He can neither be sur- 
prised by misfortune, nor overwhelmed by disasters, 
nor conquered by his enehlies. (o) Ho knows 
the reason of the jpast, present, and future. (7) H^ 
possesses the secret of the resurrection of the dead 
and the key to immortality. (8) To find the philo- 
sophical stone. (9) To enjoy the universal medicine. 
(10) To be acquainted with the laws of perpetual 
motion and in a position to demonstrate the quadra- 
ture of the circle. (11) ^o change into gold not only 
all metals, but also the earth itself, and even the re- 
fuse of the earth. (12) To subdue the most ferocious 
animals and be able to pronounce the words which 
paralyze and charm serpents. (13) To possess the 
Ars Notoria which gives the universal science. (14) 
To speak learnedly on all subjects, without prepara- 
tion and without study. (15) To know at first sight 
the deep things of the souls of men and the mysteries 
of the hearts of women. (16) To force nature to make 
him free at his pleasure. (17) To foresee all future 
events which do not depend on a superior will, or an 
all undiscernible cause. (18) To give at once and to 
all the most efficacious consolations and the most 
wholesome counsels. (19) To triumph over adver- 
sities. (20) To have the secret of wealth, to be always 
its master, and never its slave. To know how to enjoy 
even poverty and never become abject or miserable. 
(21) And finally we add, that the adept who can un- 
derstand these listed twenty-one named and men- 
tioned powers, or these throe septenaries can rule the 



48 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, or 

elements, still the tempests, cure the diseased by a 
mere touch, and raise the dead. 

The powers of the Yogi's are as follows: 

(1) The power of shrinking to the size of the 
smallest atom; (2) The power of becoming extremely 
light; (3) the power of. becoming extremely heavy; 
(4) the power of unlimited extension of the sense or- 
.gans; (5) the power of irresistible will; (6) the power 
of obtaining unlimited dominion over anything and 
everything; (7) the power of control of the powers of 
Nature; (8) the power of transporting oneself any- 
where at will. Another, and our last list of powers 
that We will name herein, will be as follows: 

(1) They know the thoughts of others. 

(2) Their sight, piercing as that of the celestials, be- 

holds without mist all that happens in the 
earth. 

(3) They know the past and future. 

(4) They perceive the uninterrupted succession of the 

Kalpas or ages of the world. 

(5) Their hearing is so fine that they perceive and 

can interpret all the harmonies of the three 
worlds and the ten divisions of the universe. 

(6) They are not subject to bodily conditions, and 

can assume an} r appearance at will. 

(7) They distinguish the shadowings of lucky or un- 

lucky words, whether they are near or far 
away. 



THE SCIENCE Op SEEP KhlOWLPDGP 49 

(8) They possess the knowledge of all forms, and 

knowing that foi*m is Void, they can assume 
every sort of form; and knowing that vacancy 
is form, they can annihilate and render nought 
ail forms. 

(9) They possess a knowledge of all laws. 

(10) They possess the perfect science of contempla- 

tion. 

Now we will forget this minute digression and re- 
sume our study. We see that this prana is the Life- 
Force, and exists in all human forms. And again it 
is the finest and most peerless life essence of all crea- 
tures. The action of this prana is Thought. Then 
this thought can manifest on three planes; as viz: 
the subconscious (instinctive); the conscious (of rea- 
soning, judging, thinking, affirming and denying, etc,, 
etc.) ; and lastly the superior plane, the superconscious 
which transcends the others and also transcends rea- 
son. It is the plane of the God-Man Incarnate. When 
the mind attains to this supremely higher state of 
superconsciousness then alone has that mind attained 
unto a knowledge and mastery of Self and all Knowl- 
edge. In the Supreme Vedas, the question is as thus: 
"What is that, knowing which we shall know every- 
thing V 1 Thus, all books, all teachings, and all philo- 
sophies that have ever been written on are extant to- 
day have existed only to affirm what has been exper- 
ienced ad will be experienced by those who are aide 
to perceive for themselves this Great Immutable 
Truth. Also to prove that this — only to prove THAT 
by knowing which everything is known. 



'S 



'50 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

Man cannot have sufficient time while here on 
earth some say, to attain unto all knowledge! Again, 
some say, is there such a way open unto all men, here 
and even now, to attain unto this great sovereign ar- 
canum? I will say that there is, and that the way is 
so plain, that none can halt if they but try, even the 
lamed and the withered. For behind this and all par- 
ticular ideas stands a generalized, an abstract prin- 
ciple; grasp it, and you will have obtained the All. 
For all forces have been generalized into this prana, 
and when one grasps this prana and this agasa, he 
Will have attained and grasped all the forces of the 
universe (whether mental, psychic or physical). 
When one controls his own body or mind,' he will 
simultaneously have controlled all bodies or minds in 
the universe. For this prana is the generalized mani- 
festation of Force. 

Again the student might or will ask, I" How can 
this prana be controlled? How can th^se currents of 
thought be stilled and conquered?" Or, "How can 
we attain unto the superconscious state, which I term 
Transcenosis?" In the Oriental literature it is termed 
Samadhi. The phenomena that may be produced 
while the- adept's mind is superconscious is called 
Transcendental, and therefore is denominated the 
phenomena of Transcendentalization. Because the 
mind is merged into superconsciousness through total 
abstraction, and again, through the suspension of the 
thinking principle. Now I will proceed to answer 
your question. We must first take up the more 
grosser manifestations of mind and its powers or 
manifestations and master them before we can the 
more subtle. The basement or first floor must be con- 



THE SCIENCE OP SELF KNOWLEDGE 51 

structed first. Then we will come to the second or 
third floors. We will go step by step, until *we attain 
the supreme state of consciousness. 

When the mind acts directly from a control of this 
prana, it does so through a medium, and this medium 
is termed "Agasa." The most subtle manifestation 
of this prana is this agasa. Therefore to control this 
prana and be able to manifest this agasa, we must set 
up new vibrations in our mental or psychological or- 
ganisms. After the vibration is once set up, it is like 
a newly or fresh built fire, all aglow; thus, by con- 
stantly keeping it so, we can easily transmit or pro- 
ject it. 

(1) The Process that is to be considered firstly, 
may be termed — Will unfoldment. This signifies a 
form of concentrative willing, or aspirational praying 
or some might term it auto-suggestion. 

(2) The next in order is: Imagination and Vis- 
ualization. 

(3) And lastly, but not least, or leastly, as the Rus- 
sians say, is Faith. Which means an uncontaminated 
belief and conscious certitude in oneself. We will 
take up the processes step by step, until we conclude 
our subject. Now for instance, we are out on some 
railroad crossing or in the shops, and see some great 
and powerful type of locomotive, standing still on the 
tracks. That would give us a wonderful and parallel 
conception of the Hindu adept who has attained unto 
a mastery of his mind, yet still not at that moment 
exercising his powers. Now again, suppose that that 
locomotive was en route to some far distant city, and 



Si TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

was speedily running, carrying or rather pulling forty 
to one hundred loaded cars of merchandise and 
equipage; that would represent in our mind, the won- 
derful power of that locomotive when put to test or 
in action. So it is with the Hindu adept's conscious- 
ness of power, it is so great that when he speaks to 
•those who are well versed on Occult subjects, he 
causes their mental faculties to be momentarily locked 
and his personal magnetism becomes so strong (his 
agasa) that he controls all whom listen to him. 

You will now remember that wherever there has 
occurred any feats of this kindj any speaker receiving 
great approbation, any speaker controlling some great 
crowd of people, or the production of any occult pre- 
nomena, or the like, ti was perpetuated through this 
prana. And this was done, whether they knew the 
principles of the same or not. It was done conscious- 
ly or unconsciously. For all clocks run on the same 
principle and are wound the same way. They merely 
set up a certain kind of vibration, and maintained the 
same for such and such a length of time, until they 
attained their desired results, thus it momentarily be- 
came so intensified and concentrated, that it was 
transmitted and projected out from the adept's or 
medium's consciousness into that of their audience. 
The highest vibration is Transcenosis, and the phen- 
omenon! that is directed then from the adept's mind 
whom has attained this superconscious state, I term 
Transcendentalization. In India it is termed by the 
adepts and Yogis "Samadhi." 

To keep from confusing the student's mind, I will 
not use any Sanscrit or Hindustani, thereby eliminat- 



THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 53 

ing any error or mishapprehension, that perchance 
might arise on your part. The principles that we will 
take up, and v\hich are the basis of my Neologism: 
" Brahma vidya" or "Transcendent-Science" are as 
follows: 

(1) Strict moral living. 

(2) Easy postures, that can be maintained for any 
indefinite length of time, to assist in tranquillizing 
the mind. 

(3) Simple and non-exhausting breathing exer- 
cises along with exercises to make the mind intro- 
spective or reflexive. 

(4) Concentration, or prolonged interest on the 
subject of thought. 

(5) And last. Meditation, which is the only pre- 
cursory process that precedes and proceeds the others, 
and yet is the highest, that is to attain Samadhi, or 
what I care to term in my Neologism: "Transcenosis." 

Other principles that have a great deal to do with 
our subject matter, are as viz: 

(1) Periodicity; practicing the exercises or proc- 
esses, every day at the same time. This establishes 
the act, and makes it permanent within our conscious- 
ness — in other words it will become a habit with us 
to practice at that same time on the next day. For 
instance people, who retire to bed at any certain time 
at night and awaken without alarm clocks in the 
morning, it is done through applying this principle. 
Of course there are many people who do not, and 



$4 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

never have heard about this law, so they exercise this 
principle unconsciously. But nevertheless it is 'the 
same, and they attain the same results. 

(2) Correspondence; or unfoldment of ideas and 
thoughts by reading, listening, or thinking along cer- 
tain lines of thought, that are in harmony, or are 
parallel with what you are seeking. For instance, if 
1 want to find out who is the owner of the voice that 
had called me on the telephone, and I had forgotten 
to ask, I would merely try to associate my mind with 
the time and place (and so forth) ; thus in a short time 
the answer would come from out of my store-house 
of memory. 

(3) Substitution; or applying certain new exer- 
cises or processes to work an opposite or contrary 
effect. For instance, some } r oung man would come to 
me, who smoked cigarettes, and had a great desire to 
quit, I would tell him to try chewing tobacco, or to 
smoke; cigars. Thus, anticipating that this newer 
habit would become repulsive to him, and he would 
quit all. 

(4) Repetition; or constantly and diligently re- 
peating the exercises and processes until the result 
is attaind. The hail is not driven in with One blow but 
with many. 

(5) These two must go together — Prayer, or auto- 
suggestion; which I define herein to signify, "One 
speaking earnestly to oneself." And Visualization 
or Seeing inwardly in the Mental Space that what 
you desire, and simultaneusly Realizing that it is 
Done. 



THE SCIENCE OE SELE KNOWLEDGE 55 

(6) Realization; or being able to Realize that what 
you ask shall be given. That all things are possible. 
That all conies from Within. Realization comes from 
Solitude. Also Abstraction, but I will treat of that 
later. To Understand the truths that process or rather 
emanate from above and to Realize' or to be able to 
do so, in regard to these 1 mysterious influences of the 
Celestial realm which proceeds downwards upon the 
Intellectual, and then on to Terrestial, calls for a di- 
rect perception of the same. For only the Eternal 
can preach the Eternal. To arrive at this stage of 
Knowledge one must first strive to associate his or 
her mind with the Eternal and Imperishable. By and 
through the Law of Realization, inspiration is awak- 
ened and established. Again, by and through the 
exercise or operation of the powers of Prayer, which 
means auto-suggestion, or an earnest communion with 
oneself such as self-thought, the supreme realization 
of the. spiritual self, and innermost desire of life are 
reached and; (manifested, withholding all doubt, then 
alone will the student consciousness open up to 
him, ..and. connect him with the inward or latent su- 
preme, possibilities of his own soul. Through this 
Rationale of Prayer, the mind is exalted, and that 
manifests that perfection of the permanent inner- 
body. This thought must be held constantly before 
your mind and receptive consciousness, thus enabling 
you to have this conception always before you to 
dwell upon until it becomes by repetition a habit, and 
not only a habit — but a dominant impression and ac- 
tual realization in your daily life. Thus by my meth- 
ods of Prayer (auto-suggestion) the haw of Substi- 
tion becomes an established verity; seeing that any 
habit that continually occurs, since it is permanently 



56 Transcendent-science, or 

fixed in one's consciousness, and thus perpetually 
tries or does reassert itself, I can by my own science 
cast it out, by applying these principles, which I term 
Substition. I can break it in to and then eliminate it 
entirely, by implanting in his mind special and per- 
sistent suggestions, or let him try the same, and by 
doing the same, any deficiency of character, mental 
or physical, will thus be overcome or be broken by 
my or his earnest persistent efforts in the right di- 
rection. 

This inspiration, Realization or Psychic Conscious- 
ness established, however, breaks and crushes asunder 
forever dominance of embarrassment and hesitation 
caused by sense impressions of the self which thinks, 
reasons, judges, and gives nay's and yea's, for this is 
merely the conscious self. Thus the great importance 
to be attached to the other and more spiritual phases 
of consciousness, the superconsciousness; hence also, 
the supreme importance of immediate awakening and 
enthronement of this higher self (inspiration) — which 
is Realization, and the self-control of this higher con- 
sciousness, the perfection of which is reached and ef- 
fected by gaining control (supreme self-control) 
through the law of Realization. 

(7) Last, but in no sense least, my next principle 
in Transcendent-Science is Consciousness without 
thought. "Consciousness without Thought" is the 
Supreme Goal of all men. It is attained by exercises 
and processes which inhibit the thought currents and 
accelerate entire or Total- Abstraction, or I might say 
that it is an entire and complete suspension of the 
Thinking Principle. I will treat on all of these as we 
proceed with our subject. 



THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 57 

There is something that I would like very much to 
state here and now, before we advance further into 
the Vales of Occult Lore, I do not desire that you will 
think me* pretentious, or even less a bigot, for I am 
merely stating my own convictions, which I know to 
be sincere and worthy of your attention and interest. 
I have read many, many, many books on the Occult / 
Arts and on Psyehism itself along with magic; and I 
have found out that all of them are merely repetitions 
of one another. JEven Levi, Aggrippa, Paracelsus, 
etc., etc., I might name at least three hundred more, 
and I would have to amrm my same statements. They 
all seem to try to cover up what they see or know to 
be facts, that is if they really knew the same, for I for 
one doubt if any of them knew, for they surely would 
not have placed so much emphasis on Pantacles, 
chains, cups, etc., such things that are so superstitious 
and known even by all students of Occultism to be 
mere tomfoolery, hardly stirring up even the imagina- 
tion, and then if they succeed, it is only a diseased 
one, which opens one's mind to hallucinations. 

I say, again, that I am the first one to give to you, 
the Truth of these teachings, and especially, those 
parts which one cannot obtain from books. Of course 
I realize that some will have to rend between the 
lines, while others will still need teachers, if they can 
afford; but in the main, I have not left one article 
that is important out. So you may trust that my sole 
endeavor and aim, in writing this book, is to preach 
to you what I have alone known and knew to be the 
Truth. Also what I have associated my own mind 
with. Because T know the Eternal and thus I am 
fully able to preach the same. If any one may doubt 



58 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

this, let him practice, what I have herein written, and 
he will then be able to affirm or to deny whether I 
have stated the truth, or whether I am Possessed. 
'The Christ stated that his disciples would be known 
not by their babblings, but by their works. Show me 
some Christian that is able to do the works of his 
Founder! Show me who has let their mind attain to 
such heights that their Founder has? It is mere fool- 
ishness and childness to talk about what Christ did, 
any lunatic can babble about what Napoleon did, but 
only the silent ones can do the same. So let us cease 
talking about our religions and get to work, and do 
something ourselves. If the hypocritical ministers 
who exist today would practice a little of this doctrine, 
or even their own they would understand it was not 
originated for doubters and fools, but for those who 
understood Common-Sense. If they would do so, the 
Churches would not be so vacant, and again they 
Would cease to argue about the supreme goodness of 
their creed or belief or religion, thinking that theirs 
is far more holy than their brothers'. If they did this, 
that is if they all did this, the entire race of mankind 
would understand and Realize the Truth of all Reli- 
gions — which aims after evolving out of the Flesh 
the Divinity that is potentially within all men, and 
thus enter into the Resurrection Life of God, of which 
our souls and hearts beareth witness in Heaven. In 
the material world Man is held liable to punishment 
for his Evil deeds (actions) but in the nether world of 
Spirit, for his thoughts. That defines the old saying: 
"That man is not judged by his thoughts, but by his 
actions." But when we proceed further, we hear, 
"Charity without works is dead." So we can herein 
and from this perceive that we can neither talk about 



THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 50 

these great Occult Powers, or on the other hand op- 
erate them without showing the same truths to our 
associates and brothers. So to know and to act and 
to keep silent, is to evolve this Great Christ Principle 
(this Christ Consciousness) that many illiterate re- 
ligionists speak so much about. Remembei' this, that 
our brother's face serves as a mirror for us to dress 
ours in. If our brother's opinions are not like ours, 
do not say that he is an apostate or reprobate, but 
carefully watch his thoughts, that is his train of 
thoughts and ideas, and then also his works. For 
most probably We have forgotten to first take out the 
beam in own eyes which prejudices our own sight, 
then after that we will be able to see whether there 
is a moat in our dear brother's. Please also remember 
that Prejudice has to be driven oiit first before you 
can attain even to Common Sense. This applies to the 
same in all forms, whether' they ai 4 e Racial, Political 
or Religious. 

Now we will come back to the center of th° main 
road and resume our study. The ignorant populace 
in the times of the advent of Jesus, said that He 
blasphemed God when he on one occasion stated that 
"I and my Father are One." It is the same hi the 
Hindu Religious, and in fact in all religions of the 
earth; the disciple tries to attain to a Realization of 
God. When the mind attains to this Realization, then 
all will say the same, "I and my Father are One.' 1 
Therefore, again it is just the same with the Yogi's 
of India, they declare that God dwells within them, 
and when they attain unto him and become merged 
into Samadhi, they say, identically the same words 
that the man Jesus did. Only the ignorant and 



66 



TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 



wicked fail to understand what he 1 emphasized when 
he conversed at night with Mcodemus. The TTnre- 
generated cannot understand tne conversation of the 
Regenerate | likewise the Darkness cannot comprehend 
the Light. It says that in the Christian Bible, and 
it is the sanie in the Sacred Vedas. The sum total 
of all my teachings are as thils — : to evolve Spiritual 
Consciousness and to Emancipate the Soul from its 
prison house of Maya. To enable all to Realize the 
Abode of all Good, and to enter into it forevermore. 
For there only is to be found Eternal Bliss and Un- 
ending Peace. 




CHAPTER III 

SWAMI BRAHMA VlDYA'S DOCTRINE: 

WHICH IS A NEOLOGISM OF THE UNFOLD- 
MENT OF MAGIC POWERS: 

NORMAL CONSCIOUSNESS. 

"When the Lower will merges into the Higher it attains the 
Supreme Powers of OmniconsciousneSs.''— Swami Brahma- 
vidya. 

You will remember that in the first part of this 
work I told you about the lives of all the great spirit- 
ual teachers; such as Buddha, Christ and Moham- 
med; also you will remember that Ave have, according 
to history, an account of what they did, and how they 
elevated themselves above the herds, or base and vul- 
gar humanity. Probably, you have as you have been 
following my words and admonitions, forgot that I 
stated there was an u Omission H in all of their lives 
and histories. 

This " Omission" was this, that they secluded 
themselves, or rather isolated themselves, and became 
great men by what? By "Exercise." I mean that 
they practiced a certain process to accomplish a cer- 
tain result. Now the Processes that they practiced 
are practically the same; but I shall speak of none 
of them. Everyone knows that Buddha meditated 
under a tree, that Christ fasted and prayed, and that 

fii 



62 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

Mohammed did nearly the same. Neither will I speak 
of the Yogis, whose processes are none the less dif- 
ferent. But I will speak of my own process that is 
quite simple and does not consume one-tenth as much 
time or thought. Some might say as we go along 
that the process is nearly a parallel one with the 
teachings of the Yoga Philosophies; but as you or 
they will read still further, you will see that they are 
original. For all this has been revealed to me by 
Practice and Intuition alone, and not by merely quot- 
ing the works of Patanjali or Sancharya. Let every- 
one study and practice these instructions once for 
themselves and they will see the same Truth that I 
have felt and tasted and seen. Now we will proceed 
with our instructions. 

This Prana and Agasa, as } r ou have been told by 
me in the previous chapter, represents the Great Mag- 
ical Agent; simply because it is the Life Energy and 
Life Essence. Prana permeates matter. Prana shows 
forth in motion. Motion is an effect. As this Prana 
is a Force it acts upon and through the nerves upon 
the muscles, bones, sinews, and gives to the human 
body motion, or rather it permits the bod.y to mani- 
fest such. Then it acts upon the brain and nerve sub- 
stances and gives forth mind. Then upon the mind 
it produces Thought. So }^ou can perceive now that 
mind is only an instrument, and Thought is a mere 
Illusion which must be suspended before the Soul- 
Consciousness can be attained. Prana plays upon 
the mind as the pianist plays on a piano, and the re- 
sult, which is only transient, or which is permanent 
so long as the player plays, results only in the high- 
est manifestations of Prana in you, which is Thought. 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 63 

Thought is a Force. For it is a manifestation of 
Prana. When the mind attains unto complete "Con- 
sciousness-Without-Thought, ' ' then it can control this 
Prana and its manifestation of Thought. 

Mere Consciousness is transient and mortal, 
strive to attain Consciousness-Without-Thought and 
evolve the Supreme Changeless. There is no preter- 
natural in my doctrine of "Transcendent-Science"; I 
speak onfy in regard to those things which I have 
proven and determined as substantial facts and Laws 
that will forevermore remain irrevocable and Su- 
preme. There are in nature gross and subtle mani- 
festations (objective and subjective), and the gross 
are and can be perceived with the physical senses, 
but the subtle cannot. Thus the subtle are the causes, 
and the rtoss the effects. 



& j 



The sole aim of my teachings are to manifest with- 
in each of my students who sincerely practice my in- 
structions, the Goal that has been predestined from 
the very beginning — Liberation and absolute Eman- 
cipation of the soul. And this method I desire to 
term "Transcendent-Science" or "Brahmavidya." 
Remember that the highest phase of my teachings 
are the outcome of my meditations and practices that 
I have applied in my own life in the past few years, 
and that they are scientific only to those who will 
practice and exercise their minds to find out the 
truths for themselves, that are contained herein. 
When the mind of any of my students attains Com- 
plete "Consciousness-without-Thought" by practic- 
ing the specific instructions that I will give in this 
work, it is said to enter into the state which I term 



64 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

1 i Transcenosis, " and when it exercises the powers of 
the superconscious-self in that same state the powers 
are denominated as "Transcendental," and the phe- 
nomena termed "Transcendentalization." Thus we 
will, as we go on, speak of the phenomena of Trans- 
cendentalization. 

Again, you will remember that in this same chap- 
ter I told you about the "Omission" in the lives of 
Buddha, Christ and Mohammed. Now I will con- 
clude this explanation, so that we can resume the 
object of our analysis and exposition. When these 
men re-appeared on the stage of common humanity, 
they all practically declared the same thing. That is, 
they all said that they either saw or felt God — this 
was their common experience, or rather it was in 
common with each. These men whom had disap- 
peared as a "Nobody," had returned as a "Some- 
body," and had merely spoken of their novel and un- 
precedented experiences. Thus we see that they have 
all experienced certain truths, and declared the same 
aloud to the world. 

Again, this goes to show to you that the Univer- 
sal Foundation of Knowledge is direct experience, and 
it is this upon which all these manifold religious sys- 
tems, dogmas, schisms, philosophies, etc., have been 
constructed. 

Although it is an undeniable fact that the expo- 
nents of these religions of modern times do not prac- 
tice the principles of their own teachings and evolve 
the same as their founders i did; and that they have 
not had the pleasure of seeing or feeling God as their 



THE SCIENCE OP SEEP KNOWLEDGE 65 

founders also did; likewise of seeing their own immor- 
tality, their future, and eternity, and that their 
preachings chill the hearts of those who listen to them 
as iced water running on the back of a man whose 
body is already cold will do; yet the same is possible 
for all men. The Path is open today the same as it 
was then. This is the Law of Uniformity in Nature 
which is and forever will be that is irrevocable. For 
what once has happened can always happen. So do 
not say that because the hypocritical ministers who 
call themselves "reverends" and Doctors of Divinity, 
lack a real knowledge of what they so presumptuous- 
ly preach, and such great psychic and spiritual pow- 
ers that their founders possessed, that the same is ob- 
solete. It might be obsolete, but that is only because 1 
they are unable to manifest them, hence they have be- 
come obsolete and unmanifested, but never impossible 
of repetition. 

The Science which is termed u Brahma vidya" or 
"Transcendent- Science/' teaches that religion i> not 
only based upon these great Founders' experiences 
and statements, these peerless men of ancient times — 
but that no individual will ever be religious until he 
has attained unto these same perceptions himself. 
Not by teaching, not by philosophizing, not by dog- 
matizing, not by schismitizing, not by reading, not 
by hearing, nor by talking wisely and learnedly; nay, 
never, by any of these vain processes, by doing, by 
practice, and by exercising. I can talk and argue 
with you ten thousand aeons, and then throughout an 
entire chiliad, but you will never he able to perceive 
and experience what I and thousands of others on 
the same and identical Path have until you have prac- 



66 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

ticed. It is not by our verbosity that we are to be 
known, but we will be recognized by and through our 
"Works" — actions, deeds, etc., etc. Remember this 
and practice, and you will be wonderfully helped on 
the "Road to Self -Mastery. " This is my sole aim in 
expounding to you my experience and teachings. To 
evolve the G-oal of all Souls, to manifest that poten- 
tial Divinity which is within all beings. All is within, 
there is nothing without. As we will proceed step by 
step, and not by mile leaps, and by using simple 
aphorisms, I may rest assured that all, even the deaf, 
dumb and blind will know of what I declare. So do 
not worry whether you will be able to master these 
simple instructions, which now in the very beginning 
perchance seek, or appear to you like some great 
mountain or rocky barrier. It is that way in the in- 
choation or commencement of all things that are 
worth your full interest and attention. 

Now we will resume our talk on this Prana. This 
Prana manifests as Thought; that is, when it is trans- 
mitted or projected upon the brain, then it is evolved 
— Thought. So do not think that you manufacture 
Thought. You merely express the sound when the 
instrument, the brain, is struck. The condition of the 
brain determines the sound of the instrument. Life, 
which becomes manifest by this Frana, sets into power 
the vibrations of this instrument of the Mind which 
is the Brain. For the brain is merely a conglomera- 
tion of gray dead matter, and is without motion, until 
this Prana manifests upon it. Therefore, this brain 
depends upon an infusion of this Prana before it can 
operate. Again, when the brain is infused with this 
Prana, it develops what I call Consciousness, which 



THE SCIENCE OF SEEP KMotV LEDGE 67 

stamps all beings as distinct Individualities, separate 
one to anothel*. Please remember that this is not the 
ease in l^ranseenosis, or Superconsciousness, that is 
when Consciousness- Without-Thought is attained. 

The changeless oi 1 immortal aspect of mortal mind 
is the super-conscious, and not the sub-conscious, as 
so many western psychologists would have you to be- 
lieve. I have told you that the mind manifests upon 
three planes of Consciousness, as Super-conscious, 
Conscious and Sub-conscious. But there is in reality 
only One Mind; these manifestations are to be taken 
as meaning aspects or attributes that are predicable 
of Mind itself. The Threshold of All-Knowledge is in 
Super-consciousness, because when the mind attains 
unto that it is said to attain silpersensual and Intui- 
tive perception, and this instantaneously. Omnipo- 
tence, Omnipresence and Omniscience are attributes 
of this phase of Consciousness. 

When this state of super-consciousness or Trans- 
cenosis is attained, it communes with the Soul direct- 
ly, and the Soul in return imparts its Supreme Knowl- 
edge, thus the mind of the super-conscious adept at- 
tains omniscience, etc. Hence, the saying, when the 
preachers speak in their sermons of Christ, that his 
face shown as the sun. It was merely a spiritual 
transfiguration, and the countenance became bright 
with celestial truths, because the mind had become 
illumined, and the super-conscious state manifested 
itself externally upon the body. 

Now we have approached the exercises that will 
in time, and according to our diligence, evolve the 
Summum Bonuni of all-Existence. And yet more, to 



68 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

unfold all Spiritual Knowledge and Power that is 
predicated of your Soul. There is only One Soul. 
And that is God. Remember that you are a part of 
Him. So when you practice, you will maintain a 
revered tranquillity of consciousness, to merit the 
fullest results, and the approbation of your own con- 
science, which is the immortal disciplinary in every 
individual. Please, practice to commence with, per- 
fect silencing of all thoughts, especially those that are 
in discord with your own higher nature. 

As I have stated, we will have to begin with the 
gross manifestations of this Prana to reach in the end 
the more subtle. Hence we should practice sitting in 
some posture that can be maintained throughout the 
entire practice of these exercises without any move- 
ment of the body taking place, or retarding your prog- 
ress. The posture that is the most easiest for you to 
attain for at least fifteen minutes (to start with) will 
be found out the best to practice. After you have 
chosen a very comfortable position, sitting so that the 
spinal column is perfectly erect and straight, with 
the chest thrown out and upward, and the chin held 
in, you will start with the following exercise: 

With the thumbs of both hands placed aperture 
of the ears, and the forefingers of each hand over the 
eyes (do not press hard upon the eyelids, but merely 
close them firmly, thus excluding all external vision), 
then close the right nostril with the middle finger of 
the right hand, simultaneously inhaling through the 
left nostril, after a full inhalation, close the left nos- 
tril with the middle finger of the left hand, inhibit the 
inhalation for at least four seconds, with both of the 



THE SCIENCE OP SELF KNOWLEDGE 69 

nostril passages closed tightly, then removing the 
middle finger of the left hand from the left side of 
the nostril, exhale slowly through the right nostril. 
The inhalation is to be in twelve seconds, the inhibi- 
tion in four seconds and the exhalation in eight sec- 
onds. 

There must not be any haste or jerkiness whil^ 
you are practicing this exercise, and there must not 
be any noise like a locomotive puffing out steam; it 
must all be done quietly. You may imagine this Pra- 
na being drawn in slowly out of the atmosphere like 
a fine silvery vapor; in fact, 3^011 should try to visual- 
ize the same, this will greatly accelerate your unfold- 
ment. 

After you have kept this exercise up for at least 
two weeks, you will be ready to start in with the 
more advanced ones. Remember that the best time 
to practice is as viz: early in the morning, about ten 
minutes before sunrise, and at ten o'clock a. m., then 
the next time at about four o'clock p. m., and the last 
or fourth at midnight, or thereabouts. By practicing 
this breathing process, we in time are able to master 
these gross manifestations of the Prana, and to per- 
fect, simultaneously our concentration. Again, this 
purifies the nerves, all this must be done, before the 
student can attain psychic powers or finally Libera- 
tion. 

The next and best method, for this, and which is 
a part of the first exercise, is to close up the eyes, 
ears, nose and mouth, by placing the thumbs in the 
ears, forefingers over each eye, the second fingers of 



70 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

each hand over each side of the nostrils and the third 
fingers over the lips, thus closing all the artifices. The 
student must then lift a finger from one nostril, and 
very slowly inhale, closing the nostril again as the 
lungs are full, and inhibiting the full or complete 
breath for a short time, expelling or exhaling it by the 
other nostril in a slow and even stream. Thus, if you 
inhale through the right nostril you must exhale 
through the left, and vice versa. Remember that you 
must never change this exercise, that is, you must 
never practice inhaling through the right nostril, but 
always inhale through the left, and exhale through 
the right. While inhaling repeat mentally the sacred 
word of the Hindus, which is "OM" over and over 
in your mind. This will tend to purify it. Always, 
then, especially in practicing this exercise, just before 
and immediately after practicing this exercise, drink 
in the air for at least five minutes. This is done by 
SAvallowing the breath immediately after a full in- 
halation. If this is done properly it will produce a 
vacuum in the mouth and nasal passages, resulting 
in a buzzing, humming noise in the ears, which might 
not seem very pleasant the first two or three times. 

The things that you will first notice will be these 
espeeialty: the breath will be sweet, the coating will 
vanish from the tongue, the appetite will be good, the 
voice will be wonderful and clear, no Yogi ever had 
a harsh voice, nor a weak body. But on the contrary, 
all who practice these instructions will note a won- 
derful change in their animal economy; such as won- 
derful physical and mental vitality. Great powers of 
concentration will unfold, and along with that greater 
powers of personal magnetism. Again, you will find 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 71 

out that you will in a veiy short time after you have 
got on to the knack of these practices, that you will 
even be able to practice them on the street cars, in 
your office while working and also on the street when 
you are walking home, etc. Remember that all great 
reforms are gradual. All lasting improvements are 
slowly accomplished. Where there is abrupt zeal 
there is too often abrupt backsliding. The key-worl 
to Transcendent-Science is Patience and Gentleness. 
Never be in a hurry. Never sit down and wait for 
things to manifest themselves, but exercise what pow- 
ers that you alread}^ possess and this alone will mani- 
fest through your active faith, by applying and put- 
ting into action what implements that you at that 
time possess. Also remember that ali good will soon 
come to you if you will only continue these practices. 
If you like meat and drink coffee and use tobacco, or 
the like, continue to do so if the desire to do so is still 
present in you. For when your mind gradually at- 
tains to self -illumination and rapture, these desires 
that are not for } T our highest good will be trausmut°d 
into ones of a far more radical but better kind, and 
thus the old and dangerous ones will graduallv leave. 
So do not practice self-mortification, penances, self- 
torture nor any sudden and harsh uprooting of your 
habits, but use Wisdom and Understanding in all 
things. Remember that it takes years of mind-action 
to build up those perverse habits, and to set up certain 
vibrations within you; so they are not to be entirely 
crushed in a day, or the entire structure itself will be 
shaken to its foundations. 

This is why we always start with the physical 
body in these exercises, because we must assuredly 



72 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

start with the more gross manifestations of this Prana 
to be able to reach the far more subtle, the mind and 
its phenomena. That is one of the reasons in my 
science that I place so much stress on the Breathing 
apparatus, or what we term the respiratory appara- 
tus. After the body is mastered then we can start 
with the manifestations of the mind, but not the mind 
itself. Please take one floor at a time. The Soul it- 
self will be quick to notice these new conditions that 
you have set up physically, and thus by these newer 
vibrations you will take .on higher thoughts of the 
Divine Plan of the Ineffable. 

Now Nerve currents are next in order in our dis- 
quisition, for they are the emanations of powers from 
nerve centers, which store up the nervous and prana 
energy in the human body. I shall only take up the 
most important nerve centers in the body, and thus 
by giving the entire principles of breathing and con- 
centration, you will be enabled to unfold these cen- 
ters. 

The spinal column is the center, around "which all 
revolves, and the various nerve centers have their 
specific values (powers) according to their location. 
Each one has a distinct attribute and power, that dis- 
tinguishes it from the rest. So I cannot herein speak 
of the entire group as a whole, but must take them 
each up separately. As I have told you, the nerve cen- 
ters are one of the greatest things to be taken up in 
our study, in the nomenclature of the Hindus they are 
termed "Lotuses," but I will not use any Hindu 
terms, so as to completely avoid any error or confu- 
sion on your part. These "Lotuses" in the English 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KMOlVLFDGE ?3 

language represent the various plexuses or ganglionic 
centers, the nerve groups, Where vitality and sensa- 
tion are more strongly congregated than at other por- 
tions of the human body. So instead of using the 
Hindu word "Lotus," I will throughout this work on 
this subject use the English equivalent, which is 
" Plexus.' * 

We will in turn consider the fourteen centers that 
are recognized by Yoga, such centers that have a 
great and special mission in the human frame to help 
man onward to perfection and unfoldment. Now, of 
the fourteen there are nine such centers that we will 
speak of as we go on. These are the most suited to 
your practices, and again are the best to practice, to 
attain some such practical result. This poAver of 
Prana emits to them vitality, which in turn flows 
through the centers of these plexuses. So you can 
see from this that the great and sole aim of these 
physical-psychical methods are used with an aim of 
liberating and unfolding these centers, and more es- 
pecially of freeing the passage within the spinal cord. 
I shall speak of this passage in the spinal cord later 
on, and then give you full instructions to open it up, 
so that this great Prana may ascend upwards to the 
Brain. When it reaches the Brain, then you will be 
able to know and to do all things. 

You will remember that I told you that the verte- 
bral column forms the center, and at the top of this 
is a nerve center which the Hindus term the "nectar 
rayed moon." This center continually, or rather con- 
tinuously, emits in two streams of this Prana, which 
pass each other in parallel lines, each going the op- 



74 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

posite direction, as upwards and downwards. I mean 
one of these passes on the left side of the spinal col- 
umn and goes downwards, and the other is ejected by 
exhalation and goes upwards and out through the 
right nasal passage. The left side of the spinal col- 
umn along with the left nostril is called, in the lan- 
guage of the Yogi, the "Ida," while the other, on the 
right side, is called the "Pingali." 

The spinal cord itself is termed the "Shushumna," 
and has two passages, parallel one to the other, as 1 
have told you. At the bottom of the spinal cord there 
is a center termed the "Sun," and from this passes 
the inhalation, after the full inhibition or retention of 
breath in the lungs and the other air cavities, when 
it is to be ejected up the right side and out into the 
atmosphere again— the right side being the "Pingali." 
J hope this is iioav plain in your mind. Another way 
to clarify the same statement is as thus: This center 
which is termed the "Sun," and which rests or is at 
the direct bottom of the spinal column, is the vehicle 
that passes the inhaled psychic-prana through this 
passage, on the right side of the column, which car- 
ries the emanations or rays of this "sun" upwards, 
so that the nerve force, which is prana manifest, so 
that it can pass down the one side and up the other 
side, in a continuous stream of psychic and physical 
energy. 

Our subject has only in reality to consider the Two 
Great Nerve Centers, the one at the top of the spinal 
column and which is at the base of the brain, and the 
other one at the base of the spinal column, which Eng- 
lish speaking people term the sacral plexus. This 



-The science OP SELF* KNOWLEDGE 75 

Prana colnes in contact with the internal nervous 
latent forces in the body, in this channel in the spinal 
column, and this force that is to emerge upwards is 
termed by the Hindu, the Kundalini force — "coiled 
up,*' like a snake. 

The principal nerve centers, which the Hindus 
term "Nadis," are like a great mass of thin threads, 
interwoven but supported hy the vertebral column, 
and allegorically represent in the Hindu Philosophies 
on Yoga, the sun, mooil and fire. Within the center 
of the spinal column is a hollow place, and it is in this 
hollow that the Divinity that is potential in man 
abides. This center is also the seat of vitality and 
life. 

Now, at the very bottom or base of this spinal col- 
umn in the region of the sacral plexus, is situated an- 
other great center (remember that when I use the 
word center, that its meaning is synonymous with 
plexus) wherein dwells the supreme wife of the God 
(female power) the goddess Kundalini, which repre- 
sents creative force. The center in the head, which 
the Yogis term the Sakasrar, or thousand petaled Lo- 
tus, is Male. So when the two unite they become one. 

Unity in Duality. Now this "Lotus" that is sit- 
uated in the region of the sacral plexus, is what the 
Hindu terms the Adhar Lotus, and likewise herein is 
the abode of this goddess Kundalini. The vessel or 
nerve called Ida is on the left side, coiling around the 
Shushumna, or spinal cord, and goes to the right nos- 
tril; whilst the nerve Pingali, is on the right side, and 
coiling around the same Shushumna, or spinal column, 



fh TRANSCEtfDMT-SCIENCE, OR 

in like manner it enters the left nostril. This Shus- 
humna, or spinal column, has six stages of develop- 
ment. 

As I have told you this, or rather one of the chief - 
est centers in the body of man is that wherein abides 
the Kundalini force. This force, which in simple Eng- 
lish means "coiled up." It is the potential but sleep- 
ing power of the Supreme Life, which is in all things, 
therefore, it is the power of "Wisdom," and is the 
mother of the three qualities: illumination or light, 
darkness and activity. It embraces the three chan- 
nels or nerve centers, or in fact the entire spinal col- 
umn, and the nerves on either side, the spinal column, 
Shushumna, and the Ida, or the left, and the Pingali, 
or the right. Which the Hindus term the fire, the 
sun and the moon. Now when these three merge and 
commingle each together they create a compound sub- 
stance known as vija, which is exceedingly active and 
potent, and this passes through the entire body as a 
subtle force, giving motion, life and sensation, but 
mostly energy. These combinations are seated and 
are to be all found in the fundamental plexus or cen- 
ter, the base upon which must rest all the life within 
the body of man (at base of spinal column, or sacral 
plexus). The energy which encompasses and sur- 
rounds this center is called by the Hindus the seed of 
love. The Avhole combination is called the Muladhar 
Lotus, or the Basic One. 

In our next chapter Ave will speak of these many 
^psychic-centers in the human body, also the many 
postures that are to be practiced. Now we will speak 
of the Psycho-physical, along with the supersensual 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 77 

or transcorporal aspect of the Intelligence that is in 
man, so to speak. Intelligence abides or dwells in the 
material oody, and does so permanently according to 
the Law of Karma. It is bound there, though by 
man's ceaseless and vain desires. "For what we sow, 
the same we shall reap." So by constantly we must 
reap. To sow, and not to reap in this life, surely will 
create another body for us after the phenomena of 
death takes place physically. This is an old truth. 
To overcome all, and even Transcendent Immortality 
itself along with the Bliss of residing in Heaven for 
an eternity, calls for an entire cessation of "Sow- 
ing" so that we will not have anything to reap. To 
cease sowing is the Key to Reintegration that I would 
like to give you here and now, before we proceed 
further with our work. Indeed, verily this is the only 
Key to "Transcendent Existence," or Reintegration 
into the Bosom Divine of Omnisciousness. 

Every man has his Karma, which is either Good 
or Bad, and this goes to make up his character, traits, 
temperaments, etc., to a certain degree. Whatever 
happens to man during his earthly existence is the 
result of his Karma, and also all his or her desires 
which come into this existence with him or her, bring- 
to him or to her like joy or sorrow, according to his 
or her past Karma, which is Intelligence. Thus we 
can easily account for the reason why some have such 
a good time here on earth, and others just the con- 
trary. The aim of these teachings in the main, are 
to show to all, not to only you who are my personal 
students, but to the entire world at large, how to live 
now and here in such a manner that you will not 
produce any more Karma. To kill and crush, and 



-f8 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

to. annihilate all desires, for it is Desire alone which 
produces Karma, and is the primal cause of future 
reincarnations. The flesh doth make the spirit itself 
travail. I wrote the preceding sentence before I knew 
it, so you may see that our own spirit must' know, 
and does warn us of these age old facts. 

We shall be meted what we have meted. Thus all 
desire and passion which doth so hinder our spiritual 
progress on the ladder of Life, must in their very 
essence and substance 'be destroyed. Destroyed by 
what means, you might ask me? Destroyed through 
the acts of Non-Sowing, Substitution, and Transmuta- 
tion! ' '■'• ■<■ ' ■ >■?< 

This is the answer that the Christ gave to Nico- 
demus. But still it probably is so simple that he 
would never, even if he were living in the flesh today, 
be able to receive it. For it says: "Let him that is 
able to receive it, receive it." None can receive, until 
they understand. 

To practice Humility, Kindness, Goodness, Char- 
ity, Altruism, and the cardinal virtues, will awaken 
a love of the Divine within you. To merely talk about 
the Doctrine of Goodness, and to act contrary, is unf 
warranted. You must first act these instructions out, 
in order to be what they themselves represent. Con- 
sciousness of jDOwer is for all men, also for babies if 
they are able to aspire unto the supreme noblest in 
the divinely celestial plan of our Omnipotent-Creator. 
Remember that true knowledge will lead you to Unity, 
whilst ignorance, Avhich is darkness itself, leads to 
diversity. 

Sri Ramakrishna says, "If you fill an earthen 
vessel with water and set it apart upon a shelf, the 
water in it will dry up in a few days; but if von pipe e 
the same vessel immersed in water, it will remain 



THE SCIENCE OP SELF KNOWLEDGE 79 



filled as long as it is kept there. Even so is the case 
of your love for the Lord God. Fill and enrich your 
bosom with the love of Grod for a time and then em- 
ploy yourself in other affairs, forgetting- Him all the 
while, and then you are sure to. find within a short 
time that your heart has become poor and vacant and 
devoid of that precious love. But if. you keep, your 
heart immersed alwa} T s in the. ocean of Divine love, 
your heart is sure to remain ever full to overflowing 
with the water of the love Divine. ' ' 



CHAPTER IV 

SWAMI BRAHMA VIDYA'S EXPOSITION OK 

POSTURES TO UNFOLD TRANSCENDED 

TAL OCCULT POWERS 

"That which is heheld as the self -existent is an outcome of 
the maintenance of self-disciple through various postures^ 
which transform the will streams of Consciousness.'' — Swami 
Brahmavidya. 

I will now consider some of the postures that 1 
know will help and greatly assist you in your unf old- 
ment. The aim of these postures that I will give yoii 
herein, are solely given to you to assist you to com- 
pletely suspend all thought and to become merged iri 
spirit, thus attaining unto all-power; 

This Chitta, or mind stuff, is an entirely uncon j 
trolled function in the ordinary man, and thus he has* 
no power over his thoughts; they are Unharnessed and 
run wild; thus by his being thus wise lacking in the 
essential knowledge to direct certain powers against 
this form of mental abberation, and to command what- 
ever thoughts that arise in his consciousness, and 
manifest, or become manifest by his mental activities, 
they master him, and he becomes their servant, 
because he is subservient to his own desires and 
passions. 

This entire or sum-total universe of worlds upon, 
and worlds within worlds, all that is within and with- 
out and beyond our finite comprehension, is the prod- 
ucts of the Divine intelligibility, which is the Sub- 
stantial and Primal cause or all-things. Likewise' 

80 



SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 81 

this intelligence is. illimitable; Unlimited by time or 
space, for it pervades all things, yet does not mingle 
with any; it is the supreme eternal, and cannot be 
destroyed 5 — it is impervious to all. 

Now this universe is the World without and is only j 
a, reflection of the God (Brahma) world which is with- 
in. Therefore this is Maya, Which the Hindus claim 
is the Mother of t the Universe. This universe is crea- 
ted out of this Maya (illusion); which appears 1'ke it 
is a Reality, like a Man beholding himself in a mirror, 
may become momentarily confused and think that the 
reflection in the glass is him himself. Thus we are 
all fooled. For this Maya (illusion) is only the result 
of the imagination and the unreal, and when we de- 
stroy these thought structures of the brain, that 
which has appeared so real and solid and substantial 
will be found to be as a mere vapor. •^~~~ 

Again it is like the statement in the Bible, th^ y 
things that are seen are temporal, the things unseen 
are eternal. This, is the sum-total of the Yoga phil- / 
osophy. For the Hindu teachings are identicallv th^ I 
same with the Christians. Even the allegorv of Adam 
and Eve, and of Noah's ark. are in our Vedas. In 
fact when you read the Hindu Vedas, you will per- 
haps think that you have made a mistake and were 
reading the Bible. Even the Trinity is a part of the 
Hindu Scriptures. The oldest Scriptures in existence 
are the Vedas. 

Nothing existing or unexisting, manifested, or 
unmanifested, is Real and Perfect excent Spirit. 
Spirit is the Will in and of all things. From tins 
Spirit all things proceed and emanate. The abode 
of this Spirit is in man, when man enters in a knowl- 
edge of this, he will have truly "Entereth into the 
secret place of the Most High." When he attains 
unto this Spirit, he will become Eternal Truth Itself, 



82 TRANSCEtiDEtif-SClEbfCE, OU 

and possess all of Truth's attributed. Then he will 
like the Christ ]be able to state that '-'I and my Father 1 
are one." Also he will understand that it is not he 1 
that doeth the works, hut the father (This Divine" 
and Omnipresent Spirit of God which is potentially 
within man) that doeth all things through the Son^ 
which is man. 

I would like to recommend to all of yoif, my stu- 
dents, that immediately before you practice any or 
these postures, and immediately after you conclude the 1 
exercises, that you will drink the air'. If yoxi main^ 
tain this for a few weeks, you will find that you wilt 
do so by second nature, and that you 1 are wonderfully* 
able to manifest perfect health. If you have lung' 
trouble, this will eventually cure you entirely. To 
drink the air, you must close the mouth, f)ress the teeth 
firmly together, then press the tongue against the roof 
of the mouth, and then after a full inhalation of air into 
the nasal cavity, and with a finger of each hand over 1 
the drums of the ears, you will swallow the J air, like 1 
swallowing saliva, in the mouth, or food. This is ac- 
complished by closing the glottis and gulping in the 
inhaled air. Mentally picture, simultaneously as you* 
do this, that you are drinking and taking into your*, 
human system the vital Psychic prana, and that it is 
passing on down the Ida (nerves on the left side of the 
body and spinal column) to the Kundalini, which is in 
the Sacral Plexus, which separates the Ida from the' 
Pingali, or the nerves that are on the right side of th^ 
body and the spinal column. To make a practice of 
this daily will cure all diseases and completely purify 
the sensorium and the physical body. And by contin- 
uing it for at least one year, mastery of the elements 
can be attained by the student. 

The first Posture (Asanas) that We will consider 1 
will be the Siddhasana. The practitioner who has sub- 
dued his passions, having placed one heel at the anal 



THE SCIENCE OF S£LP KNOWLEDGE 83 

^- • -""--■ -■ — — — ! 

aperture, should keep the other heel on the root of the 
generative organ; afterwards should fix his chin upon 
the chestfand, being quiet and straight, gaze at the spot 
between the two eyes. This is called Siddh-asana and 
leads to einancipation. Remember that in any posture 
the body must be made to maintain full tranquillity, 
never to fluctuate, or to waver, and the breath exor- 
cises must be practiced along with the posture. This 
posture, if maintained for any great length of time, 
will free the inind from its trammels of sin and in- 
iquity that enchain the soul — thus obscuring its vision. 

Our next posture is the Padmasana. Place the 
right foot on the left thigh and similarly the left one 
on the right thigh; also cross the hands behind the back 
and firmly catch hold of the great toes of feet so 
crossed. Place the chin on the chest and fix the gaze 
on the tip of the nose. This posture is termed the 
Padmasana (or Lotus posture) and destroys all dis- 
eases. This posture is mostly used for the attainment 
of perpetual life and harmony. 

The Posture Muktasan? — place the left heel at the 
root of the organ of generation and the right heel above 
that, place the head and the neck straight with the 
body. This will give you (Siddhi) perfection. 

The next posture is the Vajrasana or (Adamant 
Posture). Make the thighs tight like adamant and 
^lace the legs by the two sides of the anus. This is 
called the Vajrasana. It gives all psychic powers to 
the student Who faithfully practices it. 

I will give you two good Mudras to practice. The 
lirst is the Khechari Mudra, by practicing faithfully 
Will give the student the benefits of neither fainting, nor 
hunger, nor thirst, nor laziness. There comes neither 
disease nor decay nor death. The body becomes di- 
vine. The body car. not be burned with fire, nor dried 



84 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, Olt 

up by the air, nor Wetted by water, nor bitten by 
snakes. 

The body becomes beautiful; transceriosis, or super- 
consciousness is attained, and the tongue touching the 
holes obtains various juices (it drinks nectar). 

Various juices (powers) being produced, day by 
day, the man experience's new sensations' ; first, he ex^ 
periences a saltish taste, then alkaline, then bitter, 
then astringent, then he feels the taste of butter, thefl 
of ghee, then of milk, then of curd, then of Whey, theil 
of honey, then of palm juice, and lastly arises the taste* 
of nectar. (This means that the thoughts ascend high- 
er and higher spiritually, thus the mind passes through 
these many allegorical conditions, which are repre^ 
sented herein by as many different tastes.) 

To sit in this posture you must take up the oht- 
(posture of TJgrasana) hj fixing the gaze upwards be- 
tween the eyebrows, and rolling the tongue backwards 
in the cavity of the mouth until it can be fixed in the 1 
little hallow under the epiglottis, simultaneously prac- 
ticing the breathing exercise that I have given to you, 
as this is necessary in all of these Postures and Mil-, 
dras. 

The other one is as follows : Brahmavidya-i^osture, 
or the Flying up. (Stand erect and with the feet firmly 
on the floor or ground, and look up in the skv. Thv4 
will calm the mind functions and thus greatlv assist 
you in your anticipated unfoldment. 

Another novel way that I am going to help you hi 
this work is by giving to you certain methods of con- 
templation. Any of these methods will accomplish tb'» 
desired result if you will practice them faithfully and 
assiduously. Everything- comes to him who practices- — 
who exercises. -The athlete does not win the race by 



THE SCIENCE OE SELE KNOWLEDGE 85 

x£T-i^ :i_^ : ! , , 

standing still, but by running 1 (practicing) . The great- 
est leaders of tlie world became such through Exer- 
cise. • 

I will now tell you where these plexuses are located, 
where they are to be found, and what powers they 
possess latently. When 3^011 awaken these powers that 
are dormant and sleeping in you through contempla- 
tion, then they will confer upon you the powers that 
they possess. But first We must speak of them, or else 
they will never confer on us our legal inheritance. 
These plexuses are nerve centers which the Hindus 
term "Lotuses," and are the seats of vitality and sen- 
sation. I will speak of those which are the most im- 
portant in regard to this, our exposition and study. 
This vitality flows in and out each of these centers, 
but some are more important than others. 

YoU w r ill remember that I told you previously that 
one of the most chief est centers was the sacral plexus, 
the Hindus call this dwelling place of the Kundalini 
force, which again means the "coiled up," or the sleep- 
ing and dormant pcwer that is within man; and again 
is the Supreme Life of the Divine in man, as in things 
that exist. This is centered in sacral plexus, which is 
at the base of the spinal column. When you daily 
contemplate on this center, you will obtain freedom 
from all disease. You Will attain Omniscience, mas- 
tership in all sciences, attain all your desires, and pos- 
sess the key to all ps}^chic powers. 

The next center is called by the Hindus, the Swad- 
kisthan Lotus; by contemplating this Lotus the stu- 
dent will become greatly beloved. 

The next one is the Manipur Lotus, which is of a 
golden color and is situated near the navel. By con- 
templating this (enter you will be able to attain per- 
fect happiness, and can destroy all discord and disease 



86 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, Ott 

The fourth one is the Anahat, and is in the center 
of the heart; of a blood red color, possessing twelve 
petals (petals signifies powers and attributes, etc.) 
Now, within the center of this center dwells the flame 
called the Van-linga, b}^ the contemplation of which 
the student can see, clairvoyantly, objects of both the 
terrestial and celestial universe. Also Omniscience 
will be conferred upon him. He will be clairvoyant 
and clairaudient, will be able to see the Rishi is" 
(adepts) and to move in the atmosphere; to travel at 
will to any remote part of the earth by the exercise 
of his own volition. Truly, this is one of the supreme 5 
centers in man. 

The next important center is situated in the throat, 
and is known to the Hindu adept and Yogi as the Vis 1 * 
huddha Lotus. It has sixteen petals. It is also the 
seat of the vowel sounds, and is used a great deal hi 
the practice of the Mudras along with the Mantras. 
To the student who dwells upon this for a great length 
of time, he will understand the allegorical meaning of 
the Sacred Scriptures. And if he becomes angry and 
fixes his mind on this center, the Yogis say that he 4 
can make the worlds tremble (by fixing the nrnd <m 
this center means that in anger he can cause the de- 
struction of his enemies). This center is to be used by 
3 r ou also for the development of Spiritual Conscious- 
ness, Spirituality, until you become merged and ab- 
sorbed in the inner-life. The key to immortal youth 
also is to be found through the contemplation of this 
center. For it confers upon him who contemplates this 
center, eternal life here on earth and full vigor of his 
physical bod} r . 

NOTE: Another great key I will give vou is to Ik 1 
found by the contemplation of the Manipur Lotus, 
which is in the navel, or thereabouts. By contemplat- 
ing this center you will be able to enter and go into 
another person's bod}^, and to take possession of that 



THE SCIENCE OF SELP KNOWLEDGE 



person's mind, and to cause him to think and to do 
what yon want him to do; yon will obtain the power 
Of transmuting metals, Of healing' the sick and afflicted, 
and of seer ship. 

The next, or sixth Lotus, is very important, indeed. 
It is so essential that it should be named in the first 
order of the septenaries. It is situated between the 
brows. It is a very good plan for you to concentrate 
your mind here when you trv to regulate your breath. 
This Lotus has two petals. Here at this divine center 
is to be found the abode of the Great Light, by the con- 
templation of which the adept becomes the possessor 
Of the most miraculous and stupendously marvelous 
psychic powers. t)o not confuse this with the Sakas- 
har, or thousand petalled Lotus, which is situated at 
the base of the palate. l?or the Shushumna passes in) 
and along the spinal column to the right side of this 
Ajna Lotus, then passes from there to the left nostril. 
In the center of this thousand petalled lotus is the 
moon, from- which the stream of fluid emanates. Re- 
member that the Pingali comes from the left side of 
the Ajna Lotus and then proceeds to the right nostril. 
This Muladhar Lotus, which is at the base of the spinal 
column, sends and projects forth a poisonous force 
which travels upwards to the right nostril. This 
stream signifies mortality, whilst the fluid of the moon, 
Which travels to the left nostril, signifies immortality. 
One is inhalation, the other exhalation. I will speak 
of the process later, in this same chapter. 

By contemplating this center, which is in the (-(Mi- 
ter of the brows, the student will be able to overcome 
all his past Kavma, to call up the elemental spirits, to 
free himself from all sin and fear. 

Now I will speak to you in regard to how you will 
he enabled to unfold one of these centers, or all of 
them, at the same time 4 . The method will serve two 



TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR* 



purposes. Yon can Unfold one of these" centers, or all, 
simultaneously. When these manifestations of tlief 
psychic prana run through the spinal cord it is called 
the Shushumna. But I previously told you that it was 
the spinal column itself, to keep from confusing you, 
but now I will make it lucid. Please remember this, 
Now again this passage in the spinal cord wherein 
passes this prana is called the Shushumna. Bemem- 
ber this also. These breathing exercises that I have 5 
given you must not be practiced upon a full stomach, 
neither upon an empty one. Just hefore commencing 
the practice the student may take a little milk that is 
kindly hot and put into it a minute lump of butter. 
When you for the first time start in with the^e exer- 
cises they will make you perspire. This will he good 
for you, to eject all the poisons out through the skill 
denotes that your health is not perfect. In the second 
stages they might make the body tremble, in the third 
make the body jump, and lastly in the fourth stages, 
when the superconscious is reached, the student will 
be enabled to levitate his body. Before you can pass 
from the stage of the novitiate to that of an adept you 
must practice the instructions that I am now about 
to give you. When you become an adept you will not 
need these instructions. You are to sit in the follow- 
ing attitude (posture) : sitting with the foot crossod 
over on the floor, so that the thighs can be touched by 
the feet when they are crossed. The tongue is to be' 
rolled completely hack and upwards so that it rests' 
turned upside downwards up against tbe" palate, and it' 
must be held permanently there throughout the entire' 
practice. The teeth are, to be held at least three-quar- 
ters of an inch apart, but the lips are to be tightlv 
closed. Now take the thumbs of each hand and cover; 
the opening in the ears, next with the forefinger of 
each hand close and press firmly with them over th> 
pupils of the eyes, which must be closed. Then with 
the middle finger of each hand you will be able to in- 
hibit or retard- and to exhale the nrana. When vo\i 



Tft& SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 89 

inhale through the left nostril, which is the Ida (and 
you must always inhale through this side and never 
through the right), holding the breath for twelve sec- 
onds, with both sides of the nostrils closed, then ex- 
hale in four or eight seconds slowly through the right 
nostril, which is the Pingali. Now I will tell you how 
that you will be able to unfold these centers. Imagine 
that the prana that you are inhaling is psychic, and 
that it appears and is a stream of silvery vapor, and 
that you are drawing it Up through the left nostril, and 
then down through these Lotus "centers" on the left 
side of your body, then at last it is hitting against this 
kundalini and freeing it, this Kundalini which is lo- 
cated at the sacral plexus; and that as you are about 
to inhale that this powerful force along with the Kun- 
dalini is about to pass through this sacral plexus cen- 
ter during your full inhibition, and while you slowly 
exhale it is merging upwards through these other lo- 
tuses that are on the right side, and striking against 
the brain (the thousand-petalled lotus) and that they 
all are unfolding'. Then conclude the exhalation. 

This will, as you see, when directed by the imagina- 
tion, correctly assist your will to unfold these centers, 
as the prana goes or travels down one side and up the 
other, thus coming in contact and mingling with all 
the Lotuses (centers) in the body. 

After a few days of constant practice you v, ill have 
visions, perceive writings in fire, sounds at a distance, 
movements, etc., but later on the Divine Center (At- 
man) will be penetrated and you will then be able to 
perceive the " One-without-a-second, " minuter than 
the minute. So practice at sunrise, at noon, at sunset, 
and at midnight. Remember that we will be what we 
will only by Exercise — Practice. Let Practice be your 
watchword. We will never become great men by our 
'vain talk, but by work, which means "Practice." 



CHAPTER V.. 

TRANSCENDENTALIZATION AND THE THINK 
BODY: "TRANSCENOSIS." 

"The highest phase of Transcendent-Science is superconscibus- 
ness, or Transcenosis ; when the Soul sees itself as the Bliss- 
ful One— Supernally Self-Existent." — Swami Brahmavidya. 

It will be noteworthy here to state that those of 
.you who have diligently practiced the foregoing les- 
sons will now be able to advance with me into the very 
heart of this great apple of wisdom. For I have given 
yon the processes that lead to mental mastery, thus 
putting into your hands the great magical key for the 
restoration of full authority. 

In the "Book of the Law" of the Brahma vidyan 
Brotherhood I have stated this : " It is the water which 
causes mud, and it is the water that removes it. It is 
your will that makes you commit sin, and it is by your 
will alone that you can be purified." 

When you take up the study thoroughly (this chap- 
ter) you will have many a curious and uncanny ex- 
perience. You will commence to wonder whether such 
a wretched being as yourself is worthy of transcend- 
ing his lower nature and being transported into the 
realms of angelic inspiration. But when you attain 
unto this plane of superconsciousness, which is "Nor- 
mal Consciousness" of all men; hence in the end all 
mankind will sooner or later evolve this goal, which is 
theirs through predestination.. Then you will be ad- 
dressed by the gods in their own words of heavenly 
rapture, and thus your mind will be illumined with 

90 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 91 

the wisdom of heaven, and you will speak to mortal 
men of strange and weird things which the ignorant 
and worldly wise presumptuously term hallucinations 
or miracles. Your presence in this higher sphere will 
be signified by spirit lights, because when the soul 
aspires to these realms of Transcendental Existence, 
its presence is announced by Light, which dissipates 
all-darkness. Thus when you reappear on the stage of 
this world of life (Maya) you will sneak in a now 
tongue, as all things have become new. You will be able 
to inform the pretentious preachers and the vile hypo- 
crites and the self -titled scientists concerning the con- 
dition of these "hells" and these "heavens" of which 
they preach, and how the astral is placed in the transit- 
spheres of the Celestial Spaces, thus having trans- 
versed these great and incomprehensible vast wastes, 
you will be enabled to weep while thy laugh, and to 
pray while they preach. Knowledge is a great thing. 
Knowledge such as I am going to give you herein is the 
only gold of the refiner that can ever be able to elevate 
the miserable dwellers of this planet earth, and thus 
save the race of men from their evil influence, their 
promptings to wrong and mischief breathed through 
the atmosphere, and the failures which humanity 
makes through abortive effort. 

So long as ever Occultist demand a carnal will 
which represents in our systems of allegory, the in- 
strument of destruction; the more poorer, more neces- 
sitous and less responsible beings will make capital out 
of the demands of their superiors who teach and in- 
struct them in these sciences. Believe me, when I state 
that the universe moves en masse. Therefore let those 
who preach point out the way by practice. Creation's 
road is Onward (Evolution), not downward (Involu- 
tion). Man must sooner or later learn to recognize and 
acknowledge the existence of other worlds above, be- 
neath and around him besides his own; when he does, 
his supernal knowledge will warn him that there are 



TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 



legions of beings who rise or fall with him. Mean- 
time the purification even of one human soul is triumph 
enough for a lifetime, for as again, I will say, it is in 
the realms of evil and mischievous depths of thy own 
heart that the hells of humanity are found. Elevate 
the one class of beings, and your work will create a 
heart throb throughout the whole dark realms of being. 

The Divine Spirit is the Ineffable Will within man, 
and as it is potential it is the elemental will, which cor- 
responds to the electric and magnetic forces which are 
generated in the two opposite Poles — for instance, the 
Artie and Anartic circles. The will occupies these 
regions which form the brain and feet of the living 
earth (man) ; and sustain vast realms of elementary 
beings (intelligibility) who correspond to the prevail- 
ing influence and quality of its locale. This is why we 
Think to Be. The will derives its peculiar magnetic 
temperament from the region of consciousness that it 
inhabits, and then reacts upon this region by filling it 
with the immense activity of its own magnetic nature. 
This is wiry life is represented in Hindu Symbology 
by a circle. 

When this will progresses according to the Divine 
Law, which is this same will in man, and which is also 
this will in all things that are, when this will becomes 
diffused with some realization of possession, the con- 
scious entity so-named man will be transfigured as a 
spirit and enter into those realms of transcendent bliss 
which banishes forevermore all hallucinations and 
fanaticism. 

This is in the main why resemblances in the spirit- 
ual kingdom are not those of the plrysieal form, but 
mental similitudes. Every tutelary will rules over 
realms of being imbued with special mental or moral 
qualities, as well as certain regions of space, and all 
great leading minds in the spirit or astral spheres form 



TtiE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 93 

the nucleus of circles whose harmony of thought or 
purpose creates a similitude of appearance. On earth 
the wheal: and tares are grown together, and all classes 
of minds, morals and estate are heterogeneously gath- 
ered together into a vortex of life called " society," or 
grouped together in nationalities. 

In the spiritual kingdom, Death, the harvest angel, 
separates the wheat from the tares and ranges the spe- 
cialties which mark human character on earth or con- 
ditions of progress in eternity, each in their special 
department of life; each is garnered up in the place 
and association to which he belongs. Therefore any 
adept in the mysteries of vital agasa can gravitate as 
a spiritual disembodied entity to those celestial spheres 
of transcendent thought which are devoted to the oc- 
cult in creation, and to which belongs the esoteric 
properties of clandestine force, the magnetism of life 
in the universe, the all pervading element whose grand 
reservoir and generating center upon this planet, and 
Can thus direct whatsoever he may so desire thus this 
clandestine operation of his will which has become 
coalesced and combined with the Divine. 

Will is One, but legionary in manifestation and as 
in aspects, but the will when it becomes merged within 
itself — the Divine center (Atman) ; it enters into these 
transcendent realms of elemental life, and thus par- 
takes of its essence. Artists, poets, sculptors, mu- 
sicians, inventors, all classes of mind whose aggregate 
makes up the order and harmony of creation, gravitate 
to special spheres on their first initiation and entrance 
to the realms of spiritual existence; until they have 
ranged through all departments of the universe and 
mastered all its separate elements, you see them 
grouped into circles, presided over by tutelary wills 
of their own order, and attracted to realms of thought 
where their peculiar characteristics find the grander 
holds of culture ahi expression which spirit (will) life 



94 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, 6R 

affords to the graduates from earth life. So man can 
become not. only a tutelary angel of the elemental 
spheres but also of the human. 

This Will, when it is projected out from the equi- 
librium, whirls through space with a force which would 
suffice to throw off from the earth's surface every par- 
ticle of matter into unmeasured space, yet gravitation 
(this equilibrium) suffices to attach to all living forms 
to that surface, enabling them to move upon it with- 
out the slightest sense of insecurity. Thus the Will 
in man is the glorious light, which resides in his fore- 
head; the invisible magnet of power, and the potential 
fires of life and gravitation, are all but so many phases 
of this one mighty realm of will force, generated by the 
prana in the brain regions of the Polar North and dis- 
tributed in endless lines of radiation through the sys- 
tem of the earth (physical body) and its freight of ani- 
mate and inanimate kingdoms. 

Looking upon the transcendent order of being 
throughout which this supernally stupendous realm of 
occult force is the great life essence or principle, you 
behold the kingdom of Will and its legions of magnetic 
elementaries, whose station is in the North, whose 
sphere is the realm of peerless force, and whose legion- 
aries correspond to the magnetic and electric life which 
courses through every fibre of this planet. 

It is a very dangerous thing for the Neophyte to 
invoke certain forces without being able to direct them. 
This is why the Spiritistic invocations are so danger- 
ous to the mediums. Also this explains the cause and 
reason wiry mediums who converse and audience the 
presence of spirits are drained of their own vitality. 
For it also weakens them physically. They make 
themselves negative, thus they are receptive to all ex- 
ternal intelligences, or influences. Spirits cannot re- 
new intercourse with earth without borrowing from* 



THE SCIENCE OF SEEE KNOWLEDGE 95 

you the life element by which they approach yoti and 
make themselves palpable to your senses. They must 
divest you of your own physical and brain strength 
before they can reclothe their sublimated forms in ma- 
terial pabulum. 

But as you practice these instructions herein which 
I have given you will be able to do so without being- 
bereft of power and vitality. For again, as you grow 
and unfold in to spiritual light and celestial knowledge, 
you will better understand the Hindu methods of Com- 
munion. This earth is full of occult forces; trees, 
plants, herbs, stones, minerals, vapors, gases and fluids 
are all teeming with this magnetism. To comprehend 
these forces, draw them forth and apply them, was the 
art of the ancient Hindu adept, as likewise in my 
Brotherhood, and will be the next phase of Transcen- 
dent-Science that I shall give to Western humanity. 
1 trust that they will achieve the same results that we 
have in the coming centuries. 

Again there are many things that will unfold to us 
if we will start in to practice. We must first seek to 
find. Seeking only comes after we have set the cause 
into motion. For effects which are, or rather repre- 
sent the things sought for, are products that come 
from the great within. 

So seek what you desire, and believe that you will 
find the same in your quest after the same, and you 
will. We become perfect in all arts through practice. 
Practice and exercise are wonderful implements in the 
hands of the adept. They are really very plastic in- 
deed. The outline is made out of the idea, the form 
manifests through idealization, and thus all are real- 
ized by materialization. 

Think of the power that lies latent in the mind, 
think of the ideas that await your grasp, then think to 



96 : TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

what extent you may solve all things through a real- 
ization of them. 

Occult phenomena results from the exercise of a 
power which is perfectly superior to, and generally 
less understood than the ordinary forces of nature. 
They are attained by the Will in man. They are the 
result of a development which exalts the human will 
above the normal limits. To "Know Thyself" is to 
know the nature of the Will that is sleeping an.d dor- 
mant within yourself. The force that manifests this 
Will is Vibration. It is that subtle force which is 
around us and about us and in which we move and have 
our being — this is the supreme medium or channel or 
amanuensis through which the Divine Intelligibility 
expresses His omnipotent and omnipresent and om- 
niscient pow T er. It is by this "Vibration*' that the 
Will in man expresses itself in the world without. 

Now this Vibration has a two-fold nature: Attract 
tive and Repulsive. This is the basis of the Law 
termed "Attraction and Repulsion. ' ' One attracts and 
the other repels. When one thoroughly understands 
this, it constitutes a knowledge of life. Thus the vi- 
brations of a magnetic personality emit attractive qual- 
ities, and the non-magnetic man a repelling one. This 
is the Key to Vibration in a few words. 

Involution is the Cause of all things, and thev be- 
come manifest through Evolution. Therefore, Ideas 1 
before- they become acts are manifested through the 
potency of this rhythmical vibration of involution 
which becomes Evolution. All force, all life, is rela- 
tive. All depends upon the Supreme Cause. For in- 
stance, the more power that we spend, the' more energy 
that we project, the more powerful the result of our 
efforts. 

Now Vibration is created by Thought, and Thought 
by the Prana hitting against the brain, aiid coordinate 



THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 97 

ing with the mind makes us have individuality, as for 
instance, each individual says: "I Think." And also 
Unlike attracts, whilst Like repels. 

This Vibration also manifests in Dual Philosophy. 

In all completeness there is duality. 

Conception is dual. 

Existence is the seen and the unseen. 

Time embraces the past and future. 

Eternity reaches backward and forward. 

immortality is material and ethereal. 

Sensation comprises pain and pleasure. 

Virtue is negative and positive. 

Wisdom is inspired and acquired. 

Love is primary and reciprocal. 

*Truth is the incomprehensible and understood. 

Light is original and reflected. 

The Godhead is Divinity and humanity. 

Nature's Forres are centrifugal and centripetal. 

Our lives are dual. The outer existence is a crea- 
tion of Nature, while man's inner one is a creation of 
his own by the individual thought in its action with 
the Divine Spirit. 

The Essences of Nature are dual. One is a crea- 
tion of matter, and is temporal, while the other is a 
creation of thought, and is eternal. 

The outer life is guided by Nature's laws, while the 



-98 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 

Inner Soul-Life is self-sustaining, and guided by its 
own conscience. 

The Great Absolute God is also dual. Father and 
Mother, Male and Female, in all attributes and power. 

God, in the manifestation of two opposites in force, 
created the two heavens, i. e., the upper, or light, and 
the lower, or dark; signifying the equivalents of heat J 
and cold, day and night, expansion and contraction, 
summer and winter; in short, the all embracing cosmic 
relations. 

The idea of One Power operating in a two-fold way 
or by opposites, will be found to be only a key to the 
text, but to cosmic unfoldment. 



TABLE OF PRINCIPLES AND ACTIONS 

Spiritual by Involution Nature Through Evolution 



Supreme Principle ) ^ _. 
Spirit Divine j J 


Matter j 


Universal One 
Life 


The Real 


The Manifestation 


Spirit 


Soul 




Love 


Wisdom 




Truth 


Knowledge 


e 


Form 


Shape 




Will 


Thought 




Mind 


Matter 




Intuition 


Reason 




Subjective 


Objective 




Positive 


Negative 




Rest 


Motion 




The Fixed 


The Chanj 


f^eable 


Esoteric 


Exoteric 




Noumenal 


Phenomenal 


Divine 


Human 




Light 


Darkness 




Female 


Male 




Eternity 


Time 




Philosophy 


Science 




Religion 


Politics 




Silence 


N< >ise 


j '. : '.J 



90 



100 TRANSCEttDEMT-SClENCE 

The human mind is dual, and the Human Will mas- 
culine and feminine. There is a positive and active 
intellectual department and a negative, and receptive 
one. The union of the two constitutes the mind, while 
the more harmonious and perfect interblending of the 
two gives the mighty power of the Will. 

There is a tradition that the man Jesus was asked 
when the kingdom of God should come, and he an- 
swered, "When the two become as one." This Vibra- 
tion brings into manifestation the Great Prana, which 1 
is the great Universal Force, the Key to all dominion, 
the secret of all powers. To know how to master this 
agent and to direct its currents is to become a Master 
in the Great Hindu Brotherhood, and the depository 
even of the Mysteries of God. This is the True and 
Only Arcanum of the Rishiis, the A. U. M. of the Brah- 
mins and of the Things Kept Secret from the Founda- 
tion of the World. 

(Finis) 





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